Being marked absent if not on zoom.

[Whattheactual20201]

I am for school closures and we are in London so school is closed we just got an email to say DC2 school are having a zoom registration every morning at 10 am where all children must attend for a morning debris tray in and half an hour lesson dressed etc.
Rules are
Quiet room, adult present, but no one else.
You must make sure your child is attendance otherwise they will be marked as absent.
Would be impossible for us to do
So will have to accept her being marked as absent on the days we can’t do it. Can this go down as official absence like a usual one would ?

@MeringueCloud yeh.

Not sure why an adult has to be present, seems a little ridiculous. There will be older children left alone while their parents are at work, other children with parents WFH and some with multiple children so they can’t be present in all rooms at the same time. Also let’s not forget the many children who don’t have their own personal device so share with siblings. Logistical nightmare.

I would email school that as you are working and all DC are at home it’s not always possible to meet all their criteria and ask what they would suggest. I think it’s obvious why it’s tricky for some families so school has to have some ideas how to deal with it.

@PlanDeRaccordement

Why is it impossible? I’d set the child up and then pop in now and then or tell child to shout for me or DH if the teacher HAS to spot an adult at one point

It’s impossible because what you’re suggesting is not what is being asked.

The parent is supposed to be in the room for the duration of the call.

Other DC are not permitted in the room so unrealistic if you’ve got young DC and equally unrealistic if you’ve got older Dc who need to be on their own registration calls.

The room must be quiet limiting the parents ability to get on with work they may have.

[quote Whattheactual20201]@MeringueCloud yeh.[/quote]
How strange.

Sons high school have similar rules (except 9am, not 10am). I emailed them and explained that due to me and husband working full time from home, a primary aged child also home schooling, that he wouldn't be able to be in a separate room with an adult. They responded that they totally understood, and we agreed that my son can be with the rest of us, but with headphones on. Being high school age he needs very little help to log himself in and set himself up.

Sons primary school don't even set the work to be done that day till 9am, and have a tendency to set "fun" crafty stuff for them which is a nightmare when trying to WFH.

As a default policy, I don't think it's unreasonable. For most kids, they won't need parents to constantly be there so you can do other things, and even if kids are sharing devices, it's only for 30 minutes a day.

That doesn't mean it will work for everyone, as in the OP's case. So there should be a lot of flexibility on the school's part, being willing to excuse families where it's really not possible.

But I see the logic of having some kind of routine and then making adjustments for people who can't do it, rather than having no routine at all.

I’m a teacher and my school use zoom - why is that so strange?

The parent is supposed to be in the room for the duration of the call.

I'd just ignore that part. They won't know if you're there or not, and what can they really do if you're not?

Log in on zoom on your phone on mute.

Place it next to the tv.

Plonk child in front of tv and turn it on.

(Oh, and you’ll need a photo of yourself stuck to a lolly stick in the foreground)

Dah dah!

Or just email the school and request a compromise. We always do for my SEN child.

Tell the school to take a hike. It'll never stand up in court if they try to fine you over the "absence". Or ask them to provide a suitable chaperone to come and sit with your DD since you can't do it.

Honestly, there are families around us with 4 kids of different ages living in 2 bedroom flats with one small open plan kitchen/living-room and parents working from home. What are they meant to do? These expectations are ridiculous.

OP if your child is unable to engage with home learning they may be able to get a space in school. The guidance includes this so if the school insist on it then it may be worth asking them.

Wording from gov.uk for those who can access onsite learning - those who may have difficulty engaging with remote education at home (for example due to a lack of devices or quiet space to study)

I was going to suggest what itsgettingwierd posted.

My dd has to be ready to start all her classes at 9. They do them as they would be doing them at school. Same lunch break etc. I can understand them wanting to know she's up and working but I'd hate to be on zoom. There must be other ways. What if the parent is working from home and can't be available at 10am?

Is it a safeguarding check. DS has to be present for registration when doing online lessons and they have to have their camera on for registration but can turn off once lessons start

I'm sure that mostly this would be fine with older children so you can set them up in one room while you work in another, but if they need help and there are little ones too then I'm sure the school will understand if you explain. If it were me I'd make sure the child was ready to start work, dressed etc, and mark the dates on your own register do you can submit it - keep a copy so you can dispute it if they later get marked as absent.

@BillyIsMyBunny

I’m a teacher and my school use zoom - why is that so strange?

It's not particularly secure and they are not very clear about where their information is stored. Personally I think that there should be an official video calling/teaching system in place for schools. It would make a lot more sense for the DFE to provide this.

I’ll be working too, I couldn’t join in, husband also in meetings constantly.
Even our primary child can log in themselves.
If only the nanny or the butler could spare a few moments !!

Why does an adult have to be present - why can't the child just log on and say they're there? Why do they need to see the room they are in? Zoom shows who is on a call, so you don't need the video cam on.

Zoom is secure now, there were problems in the beginning but not anymore.

I am sure the current DfE guidance actually says to X code kids at the moment because the government want to fiddle attendance figures so the schol may ahve that wrong.

I do think this is fuelled by anxieties from schools about parental complaint / Ofsted etc so , if you explain your situation I hope they'd be understanding.

The parent is supposed to be in the room for the duration of the call

They have to say that, not many parents will do that in practice.

OP just do the best you can in the circumstances, don't worry about the absence thing. There will be a high absenteeism rate this term in any case.

Do what itsgettingweird said. The school has to have instructions in place, otherwise everyone would complain they were disorganised. But they are also used to making exceptions when approached with genuine reasons. Which you have, no need to worry, just contact them and explain.

Personally I think that there should be an official video calling/teaching system in place for schools. It would make a lot more sense for the DFE to provide this.

Zoom is fine. Any security issues of the early days have been resolved. Given the Gov uses the platform I'd be a lot happier using Zoom than a DfE provided platform - which obviously wouldn't be DfE provided given that DfE don't do software. It would be outsourced to Crapita or Dom's mates Camb Analytica

Is it a mainstream school? I would contact them and explain that this is not possible, and ask what adjustments they can put in place given her needs.

Schools really can't win, though. So much criticism last year of insufficient contact and learning, and now criticism of the attempts to address this.