To ask the teacher to change the live call time

[namechangestory]

DD is in reception and is attending school as we are both key workers (I WFH, DH goes out to work). There is only 3 others from his class and most of his friends are staying at home.

The class teacher is running a zoom call every day so the class can all see each other and listen to a story. The problem is it clashes with pick-up time so DD cannot join and she misses out on seeing her friends who all see each other on the video call every day.

AIBU to ask the teacher to change the time slightly so DD can attend? Push back by half an hour so we are home?

YABVU

I am quite surprised your DC is in school if you can WFH.

I’m going against the grain here but I don’t think you are being unreasonable to ask. Yes your child may be in school but they’re only seeing a tiny handful of their friends. What’s the rationale for holding this at pickup when it could be done at another time so all the kids in school get to see their other classmates too. There’s no harm in asking.

@ParisJeTAime

Tbh, I hate it when the teacher tells my DC all about the kids in school and what they've been up to. It makes her sad as, although she gets why she can't go in while quite a few others can, it isn't very fun for her. So maybe it's deliberate. Sorry your dd is missing her buddies, but do you spare a thought for kids who see not one other classmate AT ALL at the moment? Worse still if they are only children and see no other children.

YABU.

I do agree with this too, I had a different job last lockdown so I didn’t really have to go in and my DC didn’t enjoy the updates about their classmates who were in, I never said anything though to the school though.

Here's the thing, the video calls aren't actually for children to keep in touch with each other. They say very little really, and all children have to be on mute unless asked otherwise by the teacher. Yes they can see each other but it's not necessarily a big ,fun, everyone chatting playtime. Yes they can be fun sometimes,or very short and dry but they have an actual purpose.

It's set up so the teacher can keep in touch with the children. Answer questions if needed,keep an eye on who doesn't show up etc. It's for safeguarding and support,not necessarily a nice little social meeting.

Your daughter gets live instructions and help as needed, interaction and is seen by another adult every day. She already ticks most of the boxes as to why live meetings are needed.

I presume the teacher picked that time so the kids in school aren't ignored during the live meeting or having to work while she talks to the others and also so she doesn't have to stay too late planning, ringing the parents of children that haven't been in touch, she might have a deadline to report who was online and did what etc.

Another reason not to say anything is that whether it’s meant as criticism or not it might be breaking point for that particular teacher.

YABU and pretty self-absorbed here OP

It is arranged at this time, I would have thought, obviously, so that the teacher can give her attention to the children who are in class during the school day. Ie your daughter.

OP, everyone's kids are missing their friends. You could just get them online to play together anyway. It would probably be a better experience as a small group than on the mass zoom of boxes, where they are all on mute most of the time anyway and it is highly moderated and structured thing.

So the teacher teaches your dd and the other KW children during the day until 3pm. When your dd goes home, she has a zoom call with those at home so they get some time with her and she reads them a story. The zoom call is for the children who are not at school. It is not for your ds or dd benefit. YABU. Please don't ask this; you would come across as being very demanding and difficult. Your dd is already spending the whole day with a teacher and other children. She can cope without seeing those at home. If you want to set up your own zoom with her friends' parents.

You have to accept that if children are in school they miss some things. Just like the children at home miss out on other things. Zoom call will work with teachers schedule so I imagine a very dim view would be taken of parents requesting a change in time.

See, that's why parents taking the piss and calling the "keyworker" card and abusing the system are ruining it for everybody else.

If you are a genuine critical worker, your concerns are valid. School is not your first choice but a necessity. Fair enough to want the best for your child.

Sadly the schools are flooded with people who are just abusing the system, and who dare complain that the kids at home might have a 5 minutes advantage when their own little darling are having a full day of schooling when they could - and should be at home.

For that reason you cannot reasonably mention anything. If people were not abusing the system you could be. The whole thing is unfair and ridiculous.

Why is the teacher scheduling a 3pm meeting for the class, if some of the class will never be able to attend? I think that's very poor planning. She could have it any other time in normal school hours to accommodate everyone surely?

I'd (politely) ask.

@IncludeWomenInTheSequel

Why is the teacher scheduling a 3pm meeting for the class, if some of the class will never be able to attend? I think that's very poor planning. She could have it any other time in normal school hours to accommodate everyone surely?

I'd (politely) ask.

I'd assume it's so she can meet with the children who are at home, since the children in school have had her attention all day?

The children at home will be missing a lot more than the children in school if they are being taught by the teacher. Let them have their time. yabu

There might be safeguarding issues
There might be children who should not be on a shared video.

You have no idea and it's ridiculous to blame the teacher.

There might be very valid and good reasons why the teacher is giving themselves more work and scheduling the call after pick-up.

Entitled I'm afraid.
You are wfh, keep your child at home if you want her to have the same as those at home. Jeesh.

Do they have her attention all day though? I know the kids at our school are all together in a 'hub' from classes right throughout the school.

To me it just seems logical to have school meetings in school time! My kids are not sitting on their laptops at 3pm, they do all of their work in the mornings as there isn't enough to last them the whole day.

So you want 20+ other families to work their schedule around yours...

Given you already have the school bending over backwards and the rest of the parents having to suck up an incredibly difficult situation, possibly compromising their own livelihoods in teh process, it’s a resounding YABVU from me.

@IncludeWomenInTheSequel

Why is the teacher scheduling a 3pm meeting for the class, if some of the class will never be able to attend? I think that's very poor planning. She could have it any other time in normal school hours to accommodate everyone surely?

I'd (politely) ask.

If they don't have the equipment, even if it's done in school hours they still wouldn't be able to "attend". They could just see the kids at home on the interactive whiteboard maybe. And the teacher has to talk to the young children at home ,answer their questions,read them a story while still supervising the ones in.

It's 5/10 minutes when the children at home get the teacher's undivided attention. The kids in school get 6 hours of that.

And you think that's "unfair"?

@Iamanaubergine

I’m going against the grain here but I don’t think you are being unreasonable to ask. Yes your child may be in school but they’re only seeing a tiny handful of their friends. What’s the rationale for holding this at pickup when it could be done at another time so all the kids in school get to see their other classmates too. There’s no harm in asking.

@Iamanaubergine At least the DC in school are seeing / playing and learning with other children even if it's a 'tiny handful' of the class, those remote learning do not get that.

It sounds like the class teacher is teaching critical workers children during the day (so has no opprtunity to do the call during the schoold day) and then goes on to do a live call with the rest of their class who are working remotely afterwards.

The teacher then will probably have emails / remote work to respond to and respurces to set for the remote children for the next day and a classroom to tidy and prepare for the next day. I imagine after that they would like to go home!

Yes, I think the whole point is that the teacher has uninterrupted time with the kids at home.

They deserve time and attention from the teacher too.

At my DS’s primary they are lucky enough to have their teacher with them all day but again this must vary from school to school.

You can’t do stuff like this by committee. It’s not all about your child or your routine

She will have scheduled it for 3pm because the key worker children have gone home and she can give the at home children her full attention. If it was moved til later, both the children at home, parents and the teacher would all have to extend their school day. The teacher will also have to go through all the work that the home schooled children have submitted for that day after the call.

The solution to this is simple: get his/her friends parents’ phone numbers and set up your own call. No one gets to chat to each other on a whole class Zoom call anyway as there’s too many children.

So unreadable. So very unreasonable.
You adjust. You ask employer if one day a week you can make it and one day your partner can.

If employer says no, you suck it up. As does your child. Unfortunate but you can arrange something independently

YABVVVVU

Be thankful your DD gets to go to school.