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 ?

Do what @itsgettingweird said. During lockdown 1 my oldest primary did similar, I was always busy with the toddler so I would pop my head on camera, wave then leave her ot it

Just get this cardboard cut out - she's definitely an adult.

Just contact the school and explain your situation. The school have to set out blanket instructions with clear guidance, that doesn't mean there isn't any flexibility.

I'm a teacher, Dds school gave the same request, I emailed them saying that if Dd was working from home I would be live teaching and our Internet connection wouldn't support both conferences. I told them she would register via email and complete the work required. School replied "Thank you for letting us know, that is not a problem".

I think the school is just trying to safeguard children. I think adult in room means in room in case of IT issue not on camera. Baby could be with you. It will be inconvenient or impossible for many if parents are out to write or wfh with unsympathetic employers. Maybe employers will be ordered to allow parents registration time for children.

Back in April, I had to be present at the start and finish of DD's music lessons on Teams (they all get recorded, so you can go back to revisit things if you need to). I just said "Hi" and "Bye", but was prepped to swap wifi channels etc if needed. I think it was just a safeguarding thing to make sure DD was "meeting" her teacher. It was easy enough to interrupt what we were doing.

Just talk to the school/class rep. They can't seriously expect you to sit with your child throughout the school day.

For this term, school lessons are running to normal timetable on Teams. We've simply been asked to make sure the kids log on in a reasonable state of dress!

Yeah, no way this would happen in this house. Autistic DS can’t cope with video calls and most attempts to get him join in during previous stints of remote learning have resulted in meltdowns. I’m pretty sure it’s on the guidance on the government website that schools have to make reasonable adjustments for students with SN.

I’m pretty sure that along with all the reasons mentioned on this thread your DC’s school will soon realise how unrealistic their expectations are OP.

The only kid in room is ridiculous. There are parents all over the world using pods to get through online schooling. The key is if they aren’t in the same class, they have headphones.

For work, how is your work culture? We have been doing online school all year. My work has been understanding about interruptions and the need to occasionally block out time on the calendar. My dd even had standardized testing online and those days I declined all meetings so I could be on-call tech support. We just make up time evenings and weekends.

@Joanmoans

My DC can't participate in online classes because we only have one open plan room. They are not allowed to be in bedrooms. I need to get stud walls put in but the room is tiny enough as it is.

Point the camera at the wall and they don’t need to know what room he is in.

My daughter's primary is similar but they've staggered the year groups in case you have kids in several years. My DD is year 6 so her registration is 11:30 but an adult doesn't need to be present and there's been no request for uniform or quiet.

38 children logged on today out of two classes.

@TheGirlWhoLived

So they NEED an adult present, they can’t just be on their own?

I am guessing the reason for this is to do with Safeguarding.

There have been lots of issues for schools around having under 18's on video in a virtual classroom. Something could happen in one of the kids' houses or backgrounds that is unexpected, dangerous, shocking - you don't know what goes on in people's homes and the school can't really take responsibility for that.

I'm guessing the school/ teachers are requiring the adult present in order to cover themselves with this and make the whole virtual environment as safe as possible for all the children.

It's a very difficult balance for the school but I do think it's unreasonable of them to say that attendance is compulsory. I think that some kind of engagement should be compulsory, but there should be other ways to engage for children who can't do zoom sessions for whatever reason.

email them and tell them its unrealistic given your set up and that you can't accommodate it

As you WFH, could you tell them, if you are going to be present then you will invoice them for your time, because you are not a teacher or an employee at the school.

She has a autism, speech delay, attached to feeding tube I would have to bring newborn with me and be dealing with both whilst also doing a work meeting. Elder DC is fine he will be on laptop in his bedroom ( 13 )
Honestly I would just do your own homeschooling work with her then. It sounds very stressful for both of you.

My ds has teams lessons, they have to see/speak to us at the beginning and end but other than that we don't have to be present, everything is recorded anyway.

He refuses to have his camera on, asd, and they have reluctantly agreed to this because it was that or he wouldn't engage.

They will have to make reasonable adjustments for all children, they can't just dictate how it should work in times like these.

@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. I certainly would not be sitting by my child for a full half hour twiddling my thumbs when I should be working.

because many people have more than one child and only one computer - and they are using the computer themselves for work

Its only 45 minutes a day. I am sure having your new born in the room is fine or even you being within earshot - next room with doors open? I don’t think the school expects you to take part, just keep an ear out.

Couldn’t you try to arrange your meetings outside of this time slot? How are you working with a new born? You must get interrupted a lot anyway.

Surely there is a way to make this work but if not, just let the school know.

Sounds stupid imo. I get that children still need an education but what about those who don’t have access to devices with cameras? What about those who have more than one child and not enough screens?!

My has sen. Zoom sessions will be a nightmare for him tbh. For one it would be initially hype him up then he would get distracted. Plus it would be impossible to keep my youngest child (also sen) quiet all whilst partner works and misses the fun so I’ll be home alone 🤣 Plus he does different work to the rest of the class.

Hoping it won’t come to this tbh but that’s wishful thinking.

My son has sen *

God they really haven't thought this through. YANBU to ask them to re-think this, but I think you could probably get around it with some common sense, too. Personally, I would just ignore the parts that are stupid (adult in the room) and get the kid dressed properly and in front of the laptop at the right time. If that's not enough for the school, then I'd consider contacting someone at the school and pointing out the abject stupidity of their rules and asking them to rethink.

@Scarlettpixie the only reason I’m not working from home ( should be on maternity ) is because during the first lockdown etc I couldn’t work from home and due to the cap on furlough I lost minimum 80
Percent of my wage this year.
Now there is certain elements I can do from home I have decided to do it instead
Of taking full maternity leave to gain some money back.

The school has rushed in a new policy without thinking whether it is practicable for all parents.
Email the school explaining the obvious defects in their policy and then strongly object to the School wasting your time and causing you unnecessary worry.

"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."

Well tbh, this is a classic school edict where they think everyone can adjust around everything. For so many reasons this is unrealistic or practical, and in the OP's case discriminatory.

FWIW our school did some zoom sessions - parents only had to show face at the beginning as a consent thing, and then leave them to it but obviously that won't work for OP if her DC won't still with it or I imagine for a lot of younger children.

Like so much of the home-schooling stuff, this is badly skewed towards the fortunate.
'Quiet room, adult present, but no one else' makes me think of that interview with the late great Andrea Levy, talking about doing her O levels – 'Go home and read Middlemarch? Yeah, sure. We can only afford to heat one room, everyone's in there, the telly's on, everyone's talking.'
Not to mention adults having to RFH, run meetings etc.

Ah sounds life your particular school assume that people don't go out to work/wfh etc.... interesting!