Private school & MC kids are going to be away ahead at the end of this pandemic

[Norfolker]

Just that.... I know from my neighbours that the local private has a brilliant set up online. They had sent revision work to be completed over Christmas, most of the kids I know at the private have a sahp... The local outstanding primary near us was also the same with the same type of mc parents as in the private.
Aibvu to suggest kids who don't have that support are the ones who will fall behind or underachieve in the years to come.
My neighbour in the local outstanding comp has said she spent a fortune buying workbooks on amazon to supplement the online provision! I ordered some yesterday but the thought hadn't crossed my mind before talking to my neighbour...

It’s likely true but the only solution to stop that is to order private schools not to educate online. Which would make it a true British race to the bottom.

My ds has been educating himself on YouTube. You don’t even need to buy books. Any teen who has YouTube (which is all by the absolutely most deprived) can do this. The most deprived should be in school.

YABVU if you really didn’t already know that children’s life chances are more about who their parents are and what they do than anything a school/community/youth group can provide.

Sorry!

Even if that was the case, the parents would be more than likely well equipped to help out & also hire tutors online also. My neighbours dc who are sitting 7 & 11 plus have been booked in with an online tutor starting next week. That's in addition to the online learning they'll be doing with the private they attend & all the workbooks their mum bought them!

It will widen the gap yes.

I completely agree op, wealthy kids and parents are fine, thanks very much, which is why Boris and the government do not care and will not cancel exams.

We may be experiencing the same storm but have different types of boats to ride it out in

This is already the case. The pandemic will exacerbate it though. Children's future success is influenced heavily by how much their parents talk and read to them in the early years. There is a big gap by the time they start school.

Interestingly where I live, the more 'MC' families often have two parents working, causing a lot more stress in terms of having to homeschool.

I think it will widen the gap,but to be fair it is pretty wide already.

Everyone knows this, it's been the case since the March (for covid reasons anyway).

Maybe you weren't a member then but if you go back you find loads and loads of discussions about it.

YABU to think that this is news to anyone.

Obviously. The difference in provision last time between state and private was very stark.

The attainment gap from this will take generations to close, this is why it frustrates me so much that people are just shouting for schools to shut all the time. It is not simply a case of "keep kids at home".

The very poorest, with the least able parents will suffer the most. DH is a teacher in a very low-income area, he saw one of his students out and about after the last lock-down and they said to him "it's been brilliant, Sir, I've done no work since we were last in school". Brilliant at the time when you're 11, less brilliant when you're 20 and your prospects are well and truly screwed.

Email your MP, ask what they are doing about this. Keep campaigning for schools to stay open, not for your own kids but for those less well off, financially and otherwise.

That was always the case even before the pandemic.
You just have to make the best of what you have in life, and work for better if you can.
You can begrudge parents for it - you’d do it if you could

Yes there is a measurable attainment gap between the most disadvantaged pupils and the most privileged m. This has always been the case in normal times.

Private school have much smaller classes, probably no end if tech provision for staff and pupils.

My dcs go to a normal comp. it took our school a few weeks in the first lockdown to set things up online (but they set huge amounts in their normal homework portal). Our school also bought (via the PTA) 10 laptops to send out to disadvantaged pupils with no provision. They made revision guides and materials free online too. Each member of staff filmed videos with set work that could be accessed anytime (not live) as well as live lessons on Teams by the end of the first lockdown. I think our Comp did all they could.

However it still won't be enough. The affluent and comfortable types are always keen to lockdown. Education is a human right and school and access to education can be a great leveller. I think that many people feel that working class children's education can just go by the wayside. It's a scandal.

I think it's inevitable that it will widen the gap

I agree which is why I as a secondary teacher want schools to stay open as the risk to children from Covid is too small to be measurable and the risk to teachers is also vanishingly small and massively outweighed by the risk to children of inequality in education.
At the very least we need to ensure that schools provide detailed data on provision for the data thru are closed and that this is transparent and visible to parents/Ofsted/researchers. ( Ihave started a thread on this in the CB section and am going to be lobbying for this with my MP etc.

Mine are at private school and yes we did have a really good set up for the first lockdown, took them a couple of weeks to really establish it but then was good. Even now with the new closure (Scotland) our school made a point of being Covid ready in case this happened again which it now has.

However, school can give out as much as they want but children can’t do it all themselves they need support and help to be able to do it all. It’s very easy for a young child to misinterpret what they are being asked to do.

So regardless of where your child is educated the input of parents is vital. That’s why children who do nightly reading with a parent do better, there is lots of research into these topics.

And this is sadly where the online eduction system doesn’t work. Some parents need to work so can’t support their child in the way they would like. They can do the unusual nightly homework element but that’s it. Being able to pay the bills has to come first. Then there is the children whose parents don’t normally support them at all, what chance do they have ?

So overall, I think that regardless of online provision parental support is what determines whether online learning is successful or not.

Yes, of course it will widen the gap hugely. Not just the actual education, but everything around it - families suffering most from lost income due to covid are typically lower income families because they are less likely to have a buffer of savings and a rich family to support them. At the very bottom of the economic heap, poorer nutrition and lack of exercise may also be a factor (more likely to live in a flat without room to swing a cat much less a garden to exercise in).

I do agree about many MC families having stress from two working parents. Many management jobs weren't furloughed as they can be done at home on laptops, with parents doing even longer hours than normal trying to make up for missing junior staff who were furloughed. Also with the loss wrap-around care, the cleaner, and family help, it was a tough year for many families. However it doesn't come close to what lower income families have suffered, and the MC families are better placed to catch up when things return to normal.

Everyone knows that those with parents who are able and willing to support at home are advantaged, that's why closing schools is an absolute last resort to be used only when lives are at risk from a collapsing healthcare service.

Also some children don’t just stall they regress and not just with learning

Listening to Amanda Spielman statement this morning, more to it but heard on news

Schools closed in March for months. It took you until January to work out that you could buy workbooks to supplement the school work set?

Either that's completely disingenuous or your children haven't a chance.

They always were but people pretended it a level playing fielf. Although i agree the gap will be wider.
This is a political choice. They could invest heavily in closing the increased gap but instead are trying to plough on as if nothing has happened.

Don't forget this is a conservative government who, although they talk about levelling up, mainly come from wealthy and privileged backgrounds. They do not care about kids from disadvantaged backgrounds

AIBU? About what what exactly?
This has always been the case. It’s just worse and even more obvious now.
Stop comparing yourself to your neighbours and do the best for your own children, SAHP or not. State school or private school.
If you want the best for yourself and your children you make the many sacrifices to do whatever it takes, if you’re not bothered, you don’t.
Tutor your child if you’re able. Get a tutor if not. If you can’t afford it, find a way to afford it/provide a better future for your children.

It may not be fair, but that is and always has been the reality.

There's always been a gap between state and private, even when I started secondary in 1966 (although I didn't realise how much better my school was until I was well into my 20s).

The impacts of Covid will make the gap even more noticeable though.

@ahola

Schools closed in March for months. It took you until January to work out that you could buy workbooks to supplement the school work set?

Either that's completely disingenuous or your children haven't a chance.

This!

@PatsArrow

Yes there is a measurable attainment gap between the most disadvantaged pupils and the most privileged m. This has always been the case in normal times.

Private school have much smaller classes, probably no end if tech provision for staff and pupils.

My dcs go to a normal comp. it took our school a few weeks in the first lockdown to set things up online (but they set huge amounts in their normal homework portal). Our school also bought (via the PTA) 10 laptops to send out to disadvantaged pupils with no provision. They made revision guides and materials free online too. Each member of staff filmed videos with set work that could be accessed anytime (not live) as well as live lessons on Teams by the end of the first lockdown. I think our Comp did all they could.

However it still won't be enough. The affluent and comfortable types are always keen to lockdown. Education is a human right and school and access to education can be a great leveller. I think that many people feel that working class children's education can just go by the wayside. It's a scandal.

Taught in a private and the tech the teachers were provided was truly terrible. I provided a lot of my own tech. The kids often had the latest iPad but what most parents don’t realise is they aren’t great as a learning tool. Always makes me laugh the parents who talk to me now saying they really want their child to go to an iPad school (most have ditched it but some realise it’s a selling point).

The difference in provision between state schools was vast during the first lockdown. DS’s school was providing work daily and marking them (mainly the English and Maths) and made comments on them. The biggest issue from his school was if the parents didn’t make their children engage the school seemingly didn’t follow that up (one parents DD didn’t do any of the online learning) and their were children on the chat showing off that they were having the day off for their birthday or they stubbed their toe. From on here I see some schools provided twinkl worksheets and that was all. There are however plenty of resources that were made available to parents free of charge in the first lockdown. I downloaded all of them for DS’ year and upwards just in case we had hybrid learning for longer than I cared to imagine.