We need to rise up about the lack of education for our children

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Please do this. Please join the Twitter movement #usforthem
Please write to your MPs
Please talk about this.

Our children are missing out on their fundamental human right of an education.

The children of regular families are suffering (all 5 of mine are suffering desperately), but those in vulnerable families are suffering even further. The gap between these children will be HUGE

I am a teacher and a mother. I am ready to go back to work full time and with the 'old normal'. I am also type 1 diabetic.

Please help us rise up to get our children educated. Our children have been totally forgotten about. Throughout my career I've had it rammed down my throat about how school is a safe place for so many children. They don't care about these children now.

I am amazed so many people have just accepted this. It has gone on for too long now.

And we need Dh to keep his job in these economic times.

I think it’s been forgotten that parents are not teachers. If I can teach my child I would choose to home school. I can only supervise my year 10 as I’m also just about clinging on to my job working full time from home. As a single parent I need my job. My employers are now expecting less child care and more work. We just need to know what is going on. When are kids going back? If not why not? Are GCSEs going to be in July / Aug next year or suspended again? Etc etc. But not to worry, golf is back, football back on TV this weekend and my local pub is opening it’s beer garden next weekend. Life is great if you are not worried about education and your child’s future.

It really is an absolute disgrace what a low priority the government have given this. Please, please write to your MP if you are concerned about this. I have done this and the more people that voice their concerns the better. (I've shared my letter on this thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3931348-Those-concerned-about-ongoing-lack-of-education-in-Spetember-and-onwards

Maybe parents are working Dippy*

And maybe teachers are also working parents. You see no irony in that?*

Hmm - fairly sure teachers are key workers and can therefore send their children to school.

Our school hasn’t opened yet but the keyworker kids in school restarted the curriculum a couple of weeks ago. They’re doing the same as what is suggested to children at home.

Bold fail - should have been first two paras in bold in my post below

@snowballer

Maybe parents are working Dippy*

And maybe teachers are also working parents. You see no irony in that?*

Hmm - fairly sure teachers are key workers and can therefore send their children to school.

Not necessarily. And what about teachers with small children?

Fair one but I assume they're not trying to educate younger than school age children, which is what we're talking about. I also assume that not every teacher has a smaller than school age child at home.

No but lots of them do and those children need care, just like yours.

Of course some parents are working, DH and I have both been trying to work around our primary aged kids too but what is the answer? It is impossible to have a one-size fits all solution for remote learning. Some parents want their teacher online for a full live timetable, others can't access that or don't want their children on a screen all day. Some want some online sites their children can work at independently, some want paper worksheets, quite a lot don't want anything at all. Posts I've seen from.other countries suggest that remote teaching has worked because all pupils have been provided with a device of needed. Never going to happen here (shockingly, as we are one of the world's wealthiest countries).

I think live lessons could work for Year 10 and 12, if schools have an appropriate platform like Teams or Google classroom rather than Zoom, especially now that some of them could be allowed on-site if they don't have technology at home. Year 10s and 12s are old enough to take responsibility for engaging. There are always going to be things that don't work though. For example, DH is a secondary teacher and neither of us can teach our normal timetabled hours as even though our DC can access key worker provision there is no wraparound care.

I think the government needs focus on plans for what happens to the assessed classes next year and how exams/assessments and the curriculum can be adapted to ensure those pupils have a fair opportunity to receive comparable results to previous years.

I should add, there is frustration and anxiety on all sides. I'm a parent as well as a teacher. But this is an unprecedented situation. Hopefully emergency planning can be put in place so that we actually have things in place for any future crises, however unlikely. Maybe the government have a well-oiled plan in place in case things haven't improved by September, but if so the resourcing and training needs to be done now, not sprung on schools in September. I get the feeling we're basing plans for September on the basis of crossing our fingers that the infection rates keep dropping and the virus disappears by itself over the summer.

@Howabout Your post is really helpful as it illustrates a strong root of problem. Since when did schools pander to parents’ wishes to this extent? Take the lead. Then, educate. The bizarre thing virus confinement has shown is that the state sector seems to think it needs to reinvent the wheel. You don’t. Or, at least, now is not the time to be pioneering. Just do what you do in the classroom for Secondary and do it live with visio link. This is not 1950s or 1980s, it is 2020 in one of the most developed countries in the world.

I agree Dippy - we asked our families early on if they wanted to follow a timetable or have a weekly work schedule to dip in and out of. They went for the latter and overwhelmingly did not want live teaching (ggod job as we're not set up for it)
We ask for feedback all the time and we've had a very mixed bag, too much, not enough, more worksheets, need another pencil, want a phone call, stop ringing, leave us alone etc.
About 40% of ours are engaging.
I write to the rest weekly and if I don't get a reply they are rung or visited.

Hmm - fairly sure teachers are key workers and can therefore send their children to school

Babies and very young children, particularly those cared for by grandparents or who were at nurseries or childminders that are closed
Secondary school children
Children living in households where there are shielding or vulnerable adults or children
Children who are themselves shielding or vulnerable

But mainly, in all seriousness, in the middle of a pandemic you expect a teacher to send their children into school to be cared for by other teachers whilst they educate other people’s children from home? Fair enough when in school but the rest of the time? Let’s put all our colleagues at further risk, eh?

Jesus fucking wept. Let’s just forget we have our own children to care for in favour of yours. I am so fucking glad I have resigned.

I’ve not been asked once by my sons secondary school how I would like my child taught. He has lessons for about 2-3 hrs a day. I wouldn’t dream of telling the school what to do. I expect them to say this is what we are doing and if there are any concerns to let them know. Sounds like some school are really hand holding their parents.

I'm also frustrated by the situation and have written to my MP with a letter to the Education Secretary ready to go. With a Yr 10 DD my particular gripe is how public exams can fairly be held next summer when some students sitting them will have missed a term or more of education and others have missed very little.

I know there are challenges but DD and DSs school haven't done much, have had minimal contact with the students and I'm very disappointed. Meanwhile DD's performing arts scheme has set up around seven live classes per week, held one-to-one video tutorials with all students and are currently trying to work out how to hold a digital version of their planned end of year show for around 70 students ranging aged 12-18. This has been achieved by the scheme's two members of staff working from home and they have done more, and had more contact with DD, than her actual teachers have.

Howabout I’m in working at my primary school whilst my secondary aged kids get nothing. It’s not fair.

www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/06/08/asymptomatic-coronavirus-patients-arent-spreading-new-infections-who-says.html

Latest from the WHO suggests asymptomatic spreading isn't much of an issue. Does this mean our children can stop being treated like leper's?

One of the differences with remote extra-curricular activity like performing arts I suppose is that children can choose whether to engage, presumably it's something they enjoy so they are likely to engage and if they can't access it due to lack of technology it's unfortunate but just one of those things, not like children who miss out on education because they can't (or won't) access it.

My DC's brownie group have been running Zoom sessions. 2 out of 20 join in.

@epythymy
You'd hope so.... But I have no faith anymore

@Howaboutanewname

Good job doctors, nurses, care workers and shop staff didn’t think like that

I sent my vulnerable dd to school through this (3yrs old in school nursery) so that DH (vulnerable as well) and I could provide care for Patients in the middle of a pandemic, because it was my duty to my patients my profession and my country. My colleagues with children did the same, sent their kids into schools so they can provide care for others. None of us forgot we had children, none of us care less about our kids then you do. We were asked to step up and we did. We assumed that the teachers who were caring for our children while we couldn’t didn’t judge us for not caring for our kids but understood and would look after our children while we couldn’t.

Your post sums up to me the whole attitude there has been from schools. Keyworker childcare only if you really really need it. Asking DH and i to trade off shifts so we don’t have to send her in - so we never sleep. Refusing to do the home learning with keyworker kids but instead berating us for not doing it with them in the evening. Treating our children as if they were leper’s refusing hugs, making them stay on marked spots on the floor.

I have now finally cracked and removed her for two days a week while I wfh because she wasn’t getting any education in school.

So yes I do expect teachers to send there kids to school so they can teach. And if the teaching provison isn’t as good as being at home maybe they could teach the kids in the keyworker bubbles who’s parents are risking there lives for others.

@Coffeeandbeans

I’ve not been asked once by my sons secondary school how I would like my child taught. He has lessons for about 2-3 hrs a day. I wouldn’t dream of telling the school what to do. I expect them to say this is what we are doing and if there are any concerns to let them know. Sounds like some school are really hand holding their parents.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Sorry I'm missing the nuance. And top marks for I wouldn't dream of telling the school what to do You might not but this is MN!

@Coffeeandbeans

I’ve not been asked once by my sons secondary school how I would like my child taught. He has lessons for about 2-3 hrs a day. I wouldn’t dream of telling the school what to do. I expect them to say this is what we are doing and if there are any concerns to let them know. Sounds like some school are really hand holding their parents.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Sorry I'm missing the nuance. And top marks for I wouldn't dream of telling the school what to do You might not but this is MN!

Apologies I have no idea why that posted twice.

I've just seen that Legoland is planning to open on 4th July. Legoland ffs! But no school for years 7, 8, 9 and absolutely minimal for year 10. Where are our priorities? It's shit.