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?

"If you were an ambulance driver and your dh was a nurse, you'd have had a very different reaction to this question! Everyone is hostile because they think you've chosen to send your dd to school unreasonably."

Nonsense. OP is unreasonable because 1. the teacher is already extending her working day to ensure that the children in class get her attention, rather than trying to do a zoom with 5 year olds simultaneously. 2. OP's child is already in school with other kids the online provision is for kids who are not in school .3. OP is at least as easily capable of setting up a zoom with one of her daughter's little pals as the teacher is, and 4 anyone who has been on a primary school aged zoom will know that it isn't going to give OP what she is after.

@namechangestory

But thanks - it seems the majority feel IABU so I won't ask. Just feel a bit sad for my 5YO DC who comes home from a school asking about missing friends.

Feel sorry for the rest of us who are ALSO key workers WFH but have our kids home with us....least yours is getting some kind of Formal education 🤷‍♀️

Some people are so entitled

Whenever people want their kids to do Zoom calls with their class to see their mates I always wonder why the parents don't just arrange a 'virtual play date' instead
DS is 9 and he arranges his own. If he was 5 I'd text his mates parents and ask is they fancy an online meet up.
Why can't you just do that OP?

I mean teachers really aren't there to prop up DC social life are they?

Could you set up a call yourself with the children in the class? With so few children in the class you probably have their contact details.

You'd be very cheeky to ask for everybody to rearrange just for you. But there are many cheeky people out there...

@Chloemol

I don’t understand if your child is at school, but the live video is 3 why don’t you pick them up later?

Because the school day ends at 3. The teacher is not a babysitter.

@Fembot123

Sorry I didn’t mean you in particular had suggested that but so many other people on so many of these threads have 😊 I agree with you, if there are schools with 75% of the cohort in then that just can’t be right.

Me misreading it😄 Something needs to be done. 15 children in one school I know of (and yes it is 15 I know the teacher). How unfair for the other 15 at home!

Isn't it fairly likely the teacher is supervising other kids in a mixed class rather than just 3 or 5 DC?

Lots of places have mixed reception/ Y1 or mixed classes from a 2 form entry so teachers can be on a rota and alternate in school and support for home learning.
Ours has mixed classes from different schools at a hub.

That would then explain why she doesn't want to do it 'in hours' or the other DC from different classes would have to tag along too.

But no OP
Don't ask.

YABU

She might need to pick up her own kids after the zoom call

YABVVU
She is doing this, in her own time, to give the children at home a little bit of what your DC is getting all day. She has probably selected that time as:
A) it fits nicely on the end of her contact time, before she gets into the shit load of other work she will have to do.
B) her class will be empty so she can give 100% attention to the DCs at home.
This would give me the stabby rage. All these little extras are done from the goodness of a teacher’s heart. You are not entitled to her time once your DC has been collected. Not everything is about you and your child. You are home. You want this so badly for your child, keep them home with you.

Could any of the teachers here (sending you all !) Advise if the outcome if OP flags it up with the 'its unfair/not inclusive' point is it likely the school may then say the teachers just to stop doing it due to parental complaints?

YABU and a lot of what goes on in schools is good will. Don’t abuse it.

very unreasonable in my opinion.
The teacher would have to stay at work longer every day just for that, so instead you can maybe pick your dd up earlier and get back home in time for the call?

YANBU to ask once, via a private message, if it would be convenient for the meeting to be later at least on some days.

People saying that it's unreasonable to expect the teacher to work later in the day might be surprised to learn that teachers don't just hit the wine as soon as the kids are out of the way.

As a teacher myself, I'd find this a reasonable request and be perfectly happy to accommodate it if I could. It would just mean I'd do half an hour of my marking/lesson planning first, then the meeting, then more work afterwards. I wouldn't finish working until 7 or 8pm anyway. 😔

Could you ask why the zoom call isn’t scheduled earlier so that those in school can see their class mates too?

My children’s school have done this to ensure that both the children in school and out of school get the opportunity to see each other.

You should be keeping your child at home if you are WFH.

Yabvu. Be glad your child is having actual human interaction, it is precious to a child's development

This is bonkers. The call is fir the children who have been stuck at home all day without teacher time. Your daughter has had teacher time all day.

Actually is this for real?

@MichelleScarn

Could any of the teachers here (sending you all !) Advise if the outcome if OP flags it up with the 'its unfair/not inclusive' point is it likely the school may then say the teachers just to stop doing it due to parental complaints?

There's no way my school would stop doing it just because parents complained.

It's actually part of our "schools are shut" safeguarding policy now.

Would a solution be for her to find a time during the school day say once a week for the call? The member of staff supporting the 3 reception kids could take them to a classroom for the call?

I think the best solution is to arrange a weekend call with the friends she/he misses.

It's not outing to share the gender by the way!

You should be keeping your child at home if you are WFH

No. That's not what keyworker provision is for. Some of us can't work effectively while offering childcare to a 5 year old. If we are not deemed keyworkers we have to work something out with our workplace, do our best or be furloughed. If we are considered keyworkers that's what school is open for. Would you like it if your child's teacher couldn't deliver lessons because she/he was caring for his own children?

I am a teacher at home but I'm still sending my youngest two into school because I cannot teach my live lessons and care for them appropriately. My oldest child is more independent and is at home.

@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

You did say you’d politely ask but you also accused the teacher of ‘very poor planning’ I thought this was unfair and plenty of people have pointed out valid reasons for why it would be scheduled that way.

I stand by my general observation:
‘I actually don’t know how teachers manage to do their job when people appreciate their efforts so little’

[quote AccidentallyOnPurpose]@ThePricklySheep who else do you think is doing it then? Unless she has a TA in.[/quote]
They lump them in bigger groups. In our school anyway. They don’t have a teacher trying to teach a class at home and a class in school at the same time.

All of our video calls are in school time for example and there is lots of interaction with the teacher during the day.

Ok well you stand by that by mistakenly linking it to my completely unrelated statement.

@sundowners

Keyworker or not you are SO fortunate to have your kids in school right now. You appreciate that- right? You have no idea what the rest of us working parents are having to deal with right now. So if the time suits the poor souls being home-schooled right now- it is THOSE pupils that it should be based around, not your kids.

Wow unbelievable! I am a key worker and have had to send my children to school through the pandemic and it has broken my heart to do it! Don’t you think key workers would rather have their kids home and safe? School is not the same and key worker children have to adapt to very strict rules and new teachers , I am always so grateful for the schools and all they do and in return they are also happy to support key workers so they can do their job! It’s been a bloody hard slog!