Private schools are performing better during Covid?

[Hoolieannabanana]

I know private schools perform better than state schools but are they actually better just now or is there just a perception that they are as they are having more live lessons? What makes them better just now in particular?

We have DC in two private schools and both have taught a full, almost all live timetable throughout both lockdowns via MS Teams.

One advantage in terms of engagement seems to have been that there is an expectation that both teacher and pupils will have their videos on. I am a postgrad at a Russell Group university and know from colleagues how hard it is to teach a screen full of blank initials - and I know from friends with children at a variety of state schools that they are not allowed to insist on videos on (not saying this is necessarily the case everywhere). My DC certainly concentrate better knowing that the teacher can see them! Obviously smaller class sizes and better access to tech also play an important part.

It does seem incredibly unfair that there is such a difference in provision between schools generally. I am horrified by that TES article saying that the unions advised that teaching should basically be suspended in the first lockdown, though thankfully things seem generally better this time around.

My DC attend state school and they have one zoom session a day but only half of the class turn up to them. I’d say it’s because the other half don’t have a device to access the zoom meeting but the school gave the children without devices a laptop... The teachers have also said that some days only half of the class are sending proof of any work in too. Basically, some parents are better than others. It’s easy to blame teachers and schools but we need to accept that some parents are just a bit shit.

@TheRuleofStix

my definition of education is very different from the sausage factory of exam results

Off topic but this caught my attention, as it sums up why I sent my DC to private: They learn breadth and depth of a subject not how to pass an exam in a subject, which seems to be very much the approach of the high performing state schools that I’m familiar with.

My DCs schools really instil a love of learning even if that falls outside the exam curriculum which I consider to be important.

I know some state schools are doing a great job so I can't compare but my DC's prep has been excellent. They have a full timetable with the exception of PE for which they have suggestd activities and an opportunity to log and get stars for what they've done but no live class. Children can opt out of art lessons and do their own thing if they prefer too. The lessons have been great. They work much like lessons in school. Teacher explains live, there's some class discussion then they work independently (usually off the screen) with the teacher available on the meet if they have questions. They each have a chrome book set up for them and submit work there (taking a picture usually) and have it marked. The emotional support has also been amazing. My DC have been fine but those who are struggling are getting a lot of support. DH and I have been working and both DC haven't needed any support from us at all and most importantly are happy.

We've had a few new children who transfered from the state and their parents are really happy from what I hear. The assessments they did at the end of last year had them performing on average a bit better on age standardadised scores than before lockdown.

I'd also add that a comparison to the state is hardly fair. Our prep had resources to provide every child a chrome book set up on the school system (so it's safe for them to use unsupervised and very easy to find their work and classes because it's all there on the homescreen). They have full time IT support. Every child has internet at home and a quiet space to work.

I think Op you have to bear in mind here that parents are paying for this education so it is in everybodys interest it is delivered correctly.I work in a public school and it is as close to normal virtually as it can be.A very structured routine starting at normal time and finishing at normal time.The work the teaching staff are putting in and marking and returning is almost overwhelming,live lessons are expected and demanded of them..so yes they are performing exceptionally well.

In lockdown 1 our state primary provided a pack of photocopied worksheets. No timetable, no lessons, no teacher-pupil interaction at all. Parents complained repeatedly, without much result.

Colleagues with children at private schools have seen full programmes of online lessons from day 1.

The above scenarios seem to be common.

I worry that the lockdown has exacerbated the gap in attainment.

Now in lockdown 2 however, state schools do seem to be catching up, and ours has started an online learning programme.

There are different drivers between two

Fortunately for us state secondary is still competing for good exam grades and doing as much as any school needing to deliver

Primary is delivering better by virtue of capping numbers in to a very low level. The teaching resource is kept for online only

Well,they cant be 'catching up' unless they are covering double the work. In secondary anyway. Presumably if state secondary did nothing during the last lockdown they've missed that chunk of the syllabus forever, unless they are doubling up this term.

For a start all parents can afford laptops and super fast broadband!

Our experience of S1 (age 12 ish in Scotland) is roughly the same for 2 state and 1 private, interestingly.
All full live lessons. Private has a little, marked, homework, not sure about state. Private has no PE, one state has PE classes, not sure about the other. One state isn’t doing a class register or caring about attendance, as in normal times.

@RandomMess

For a start all parents can afford laptops and super fast broadband!

Yes this is true, and nice places to work. You should see some of my dcs friends bedrooms! Special ergonomic chairs, exercise bikes just for them

DS school spent Easter break setting up online school and all lessons were live from Easter onwards. Summer term was more challenging with teachers WFH but since Christmas they work from their classrooms teaching the key worker children and those at home simultaneously. All classrooms were set up for remote learning from September to allow isolating pupils to join the lessons live.
The school have been very committed to providing full curriculum, but when you are paying school fees it is expected.
However, the children are still struggling massively with mental health issues and despite the excellent provision, including dedicated psychologists it will be a long time before things will be back to normal for them.
DS is taking iGCSEs which are still going ahead albeit in a modified form. It will be interesting to see how they get on, DS is gradually disengaging so we are not expecting the grades he is capable of. But I doubt that anyone will regard the exam results in 2020,2021 or 2022 as indicative of actual ability.
I have massive sympathy for A level students. This years cohort have had real problems with University application process. Predicted grades are unpredictable since the pandemic has seriously impacted on the whole of their A level course. Hopefully DS will be starting afresh in September and will not have a stop start A level experience.

Dd is doing Cambridge International English A level and that's still going ahead as normal!

Ds (12) has six live Teams lessons per day plus registration/pastoral care in the morning. They do a full curriculum including, music, art, food tech and sport. Assignments are marked some of the time.

To compare with my DS (12) at state school:

He has no live lessons at all.
(no recorded either just powerpoints and youtube links).

Registration is by email.

Assignments are marked.
One live check-in per week on Teams

Primary school for DD (8) exactly the same without the registration.

I would be happy with somewhere in between - although to be honest at this point anything live would be an improvement. They need more interactions with other humans.

@ThePricklySheep "Our experience of S1 (age 12 ish in Scotland) is roughly the same for 2 state and 1 private, interestingly.
All full live lessons.*

I am also in Scotland and my son is S1 and getting no live lessons at all.

[quote GintyMcGinty]@ThePricklySheep "Our experience of S1 (age 12 ish in Scotland) is roughly the same for 2 state and 1 private, interestingly.
All full live lessons.*

I am also in Scotland and my son is S1 and getting no live lessons at all.[/quote]
I’m sure it varies. I didn’t mean to suggest all school are the same across Scotland

@ThePricklySheep

I’m sure it varies. I didn’t mean to suggest all school are the same across Scotland grin

I didn't think you were. I was just giving a comparison.

~My child was in a state primary during lockdown 1. No live lessons, a couple of worksheets sent (enough for 20 mins a day of work), nothing marked (parents expected to do it), teacher never communicated with students bar one email saying wasn't it great they didn't have to do SATS.. in short nothing. While a lot of kids where happy to be free of school work some of us have children who want to learn.. it was awful, I had to pull together work for my child myself to fill the days as I am a single parent who works full time. Overall my child lost months of education because the school did nothing to support them - they felt it was best to do a little maths & a few grammar exercises then spend the time outside and do crafts / baking / art! ( I have the email to prove it). Lovely if you don't have a job and don't care whether your child is educated... but I do have a job and my child needed to learn.

Lock down 2 - private school. Full timetable, all lessons delivered live / some content as in school, pastoral support, tutor support, everything marked. Even sport is done (albeit in an adapted way). It's amazing what the teachers are doing. It's meant I can work properly home home & my child is getting the same education they did at school in September this year. The social aspect is still lacking, but teachers can't do much about that.

Having scrapped together the money to do this with great difficulty it really offends me when people refer to private school kids parents as ''rich''. If only you knew most of us have made huge sacrifices to put our children in private education and are far from ''rich''. We have nothing left - certainly not to pay tutors. I don't need to bribe my child to attend, or do their homework - they want to learn.

My 2 dds are at private school. I’m not sure my 4 year old gets much different to a state school - it’s really up to me to teach most of it as she can’t concentrate online too long.

My year 6, 11 year old however has basically a “normal” school day just at home. She has a full day of live lessons where they are all expected to have their cameras on and work gets marked as usual. The teachers are strict - I’ve heard kids get told off several times when the teacher has noticed they’re looking elsewhere / are on other devices. And they all got iPads sent home from school loaded with apps for them to work on.

It’s a bit full on but i can’t fault the provision.

I 100% agree with people pointing out the better facilities that dc tend to have if their parents are financially better off give an advantage. But there is still the level of intelligence of the child. how much they will co operate with learning and parental input and attitude.

I went to a terrible secondary school, only 25% of dc got the required grade C at GCSE in English and Maths the first year they published tables. I did really well and went to a RG University, we all did and one of my brothers has a PhD. We slid exactly in to the subset and common outcome of dc born of Chinese heritage in this country. Top exam results along with dc of Indian heritage.

So whilst cause for concern and the absolute unfairness that the advantage money brings in life in all areas I think parental influence and style is huge. Chinese and Asian parenting style is so much stricter than an English one. When DS was distracted by his games console in GCSE year it was removed immediately by me. His friends parents had the same issue but didn’t do this. He absolutely hated us at the time but actually thanked me when his results came in. I think always wanting to be your own child’s friend all the time can be a mistake. DH is white so we have had the odd clash over parenting style and he wants the dc to like him all the time. I find him soft as butter in his approach and he finds me too tough but we ultimately dilute each other.

@LouiseTrees

And their pupils can afford private tutoring and their parents can bribe them with money or threatening to take it away etc etc.

You don't need tutoring in a private school, that's the point.

I have twins, with one in grammar and the other in private. Absolutely agree that private schools are performing better. Feel a bit insulted about the suggestion it’s because we bribe our kids with money or pay for private tuition on top! My daughter works because the teachers expect her to work - just like during regular classes. And if you pay for a school the last thing you want is to also pay for private tuition on top! If anything I would like to reduce the amount of education she is getting online. She had 11 exams last week - and she’s not in an all important exam year.

Smaller classes and all the tech they need. Parents who care enough to spend a lot of money. Of course they do better.

My DC have live lessons daily from 9am-3pm, catch up sessions as needed from 3pm-4pm. I can email the teachers and get a reply the same day or the next day and the head teacher sends out weekly updates and highlights good work done by pupils.

The school also has a Youtube channel providing information for pupils and parents and sends out information for parents about how to support their children and sends out information for children about other ways they can help themselves, there was one about how to use games consoles to access learning for example.

They have also been giving laptops out provided from various schemes organised by the local community.