How much contact has your primary school aged child had with their teacher?

[georgedawes]

Please can you tell me how much contact your primary school aged child has had with their teacher since March. I'm specifically asking for kids not yet back in school and not about emails with work set etc, but actual direct contact (telephone, zoom etc etc) with their teacher.

Y5 DS - We’ve had one phone call in 16 weeks and one email response from the Head to my complaint about the lack of work/direction being set and contact. Two further emails from DS’s teacher giving vague feedback on work completed. The only instructions set have been “please follow the Oak Academy lessons” and “please complete this exercise on ActiveLearn”. No video calls, no class zoom sessions, no other engagement. Unsurprisingly, I feel DS has been badly let down.
My Y7 however, has had the most amazing support and resources provided by his school. His teachers have been fantastic throughout. It’s like night and day. Talk about a lottery.

I will say my dd really enjoyed speaking to her teacher on the phone...I think she just liked hearing her voice and feeling like she was still in that class despite not being physically there.

Barbie no not vulnerable here, ds did like the contact, it’s hard to feel cut off from any contact from the school, but is ok now without it.

None. The teacher called me last week to check all was ok and let us know they won't be opening fully before September. There are some links to other sites on the school website but nothing to be handed in and they have no idea if we're actually doing any work.
I don't mind at all as we're quite happy doing our own work and we may consider home ed in the future.

Well I emailed and asked DDs teacher if she could spare 15 mins for a call as my DD has really struggled with lockdown, is in tears a lot and is very angry and frustrated all the time. She idolises her teacher and I thought it would benefit her.
No reply for almost two weeks and then basically saying she assumed it wasn’t needed now that there are class zoom calls happening...

Oh and none of our schools were open during the entire lockdown period. There was no childcare or education provision for key workers either.

Basically Irish Primary school teachers have been off school for 15 weeks and have been required to do fuck all.

@LeatherFlanny

You say none, and then that the teacher called to check all was ok! Surely that’s contact then?

Remember that your child’s class teacher might be in school teaching and planning for a group.

I’m a Y4 teacher, but I am in school teaching a Y5 group of keyworker children. I still create home learning activities for the Y4s each week. I also create a video explaining the home learning and respond to emails from Y4 parents and pupils, including praising the work they have sent in.

I would love to phone each parent but there is not enough time in the day. I am already working from 7.30-6 each day as are all the other teachers in the school. I’m not grumbling, but feel that as a school we really are doing the best we can do.

Please don't state an opinion as fact @RandyLionandDirtyDog . I am.an Irish primary teacher and we have been in daily contact with students. Each class ( I have 2) got a daily PowerPoint of lessons to follow which included voice and screen records for spellings/ Irish reading / maths books
Work was returned and corrected using the aladdin app.
All principals were contacted by inspector s from the department to lay out the plan for distance learning followed by the school.
If you weren't happy that's fine and something to raise with your school but it is not indicative of a whole country

My dd is vulnerable due to ongoing Mental health issues. We have had zero contact from school since before half term. I know other children from the school have had zero contact since schools closed in March. I think it is an absolute disgrace. So many parents are struggling and the end is still over 7 weeks away, if that is actually the end and schools go back which although the government have promised could still be a massive dream at this point.
I appreciate some teachers have gone above and beyond during this time, but actually, there’s a few who haven’t bothered one jot about the children they are supposed to be teaching and it’s absolutely appalling. .

@Jeffers5 if you are teaching year 5, what is their normal year 5 teacher doing? I understand some teachers are shielding, so why aren’t they picking up some of the slack? Presumably not all of the year 5 children are back in as key worker and vulnerable children?

Dds high school has 18 members of staff off at the moment. They have all been Redeployed to managing home learning, responding to emails/phone calls needing help with work and making welfare calls. I can not fault that school and their response.

Sadly, I feel very much in the minority here. I absolutely cannot fault my DCs' (yrs 1 & 2) primary (normal, bog standard, state school in a mixed private/council home area). They have emailed daily with full well thought out lesson plans, posted dozens and dozens of video lessons, all made from the teachers' homes, send the children individual emails and messages. DC1 was sent a birthday card, they've had phone calls and individual videos made just for them, as well as certificates and three resource packs each, containing paints, work books, rulers, pencils, paper, reading books to keep etc. They have been truly wonderful and really made the children feel like they are still part of their class and school. It has helped us as parents hugely because the work has been so interactive and interesting that motivation hasn't really been much of a problem. DC1 has been a tricky customer at times, but the teachers even helped with that, sending him little reward posters for good work. We've sent work in by email a few times a week and the school website now has a page for each year with pictures of their work, extra projects to work on and an art gallery. I'm in awe of those teachers, I really am. This week DC2 is taking part in a week long maths competition in the style of the crystal maze!

I feel so sad that so many other schools haven't done anything. My nephew is in the same year as DC1. He's had no contact from his school and no work sent home. We've been sending him copies of DC1's lessons and activities.

Sadly, I feel very much in the minority here. I absolutely cannot fault my DCs' (yrs 1 & 2) primary (normal, bog standard, state school in a mixed private/council home area). They have emailed daily with full well thought out lesson plans, posted dozens and dozens of video lessons, all made from the teachers' homes, send the children individual emails and messages. DC1 was sent a birthday card, they've had phone calls and individual videos made just for them, as well as certificates and three resource packs each, containing paints, work books, rulers, pencils, paper, reading books to keep etc. They have been truly wonderful and really made the children feel like they are still part of their class and school. It has helped us as parents hugely because the work has been so interactive and interesting that motivation hasn't really been much of a problem. DC1 has been a tricky customer at times, but the teachers even helped with that, sending him little reward posters for good work. We've sent work in by email a few times a week and the school website now has a page for each year with pictures of their work, extra projects to work on and an art gallery. I'm in awe of those teachers, I really am. This week DC2 is taking part in a week long maths competition in the style of the crystal maze!

I feel so sad that so many other schools haven't done anything. My nephew is in the same year as DC1. He's had no contact from his school and no work sent home. We've been sending him copies of DC1's lessons and activities.

Weekly class letter from teacher to students by email.
No individual contact.
Dd is in reception.

@Lemons1571 Yes they are given a set task and every Monday they have to email in a video of them with set piece of work and enough speaking to proved they are still alive okay. I don't think they've actually called it 'proof of life' but my friend and I had a good giggle about the fact it seemed to have come straight from a hostage film.

In my school I have 14 classes usually (2 form entry) we have 12 bubbles in school currently. These bubbles use up 12 teachers Mon - Fri, all day. The 2 teachers who are left are shielding at home and are managing the workload for the year groups who are not back in - that’s around 200 children between 2 teachers.

We’re actually doing a very good job and parents of those year groups are, for the most part, very happy. I’m just trying to explain why the usual class teacher isn’t in touch. I have Y5 teachers teaching Reception bubbles, Y2 teachers in Y1 bubbles, Y3 teachers teaching Y6 bubbles and Y4 teachers covering KW bubbles. They would LOVE to be in contact with their normal classes all day but are teaching the bubbles of the year groups the government have asked us to have in.

I have no spare teachers to do more. My HLTAs are running SEN provision in the other 2 classrooms.

We logistically cannot do anymore 😢

SamsMumsCateracts Your school and teachers sound amazing!

They really are @ceeveebee. I emailed the head this week to tell them that. It's not a small school either, but they've done this for each and every child, despite being open to key worker children throughout and even more now.

Dragonboobs That’s probably fairly similar to our school except that they are only doing 4 days a week so they have Fridays to plan and to make contact with the home learning kids.

Doesn’t really explain why we had no contact for the first 10 weeks when there were barely any kids in our school though.

Traintrackmad all of the Y6, Y1 and reception children are in, but can only be in groups of 15 or less. Other teachers are teaching the other halves of the classes. The year 5 teachers are teaching Y6 children along with the year 6 teachers. The reception children are being taught by Y2 teachers and the Year ones are being taught by Y3. Year 4 teachers and any HLTAs are teaching the key worker and vulnerable children from years 2,3,4 and 5. We have very few teachers who are shielding, I think it’s one person. It’s a logistical nightmare.
We’re also running Google Classroom for the KS2 children, there is a constant dialogue on there. Any children we haven’t heard from for a week either through GC, emails or work sent in we call to check that they are OK, don’t need support, resources etc.

@switswoo81

Let me guess...you work in Dublin?

1 x phonecall lasting 90 seconds.

@RandyLionandDirtyDog rural cork

Zero. Not a sausage . I'm really quite sad about it. But she attends a very small village school and her class teacher is shielding so not been in school until the y1's went back.

Reception aged child the teacher was AMAZING she personally dropped work off so she could see and chat to DD. Phone call to see if I needed anything. Tapestry updates etc. Yr 2 DD at same school - nothing. (Although I know her teacher is in with keyworker children so probably exhausted).

I am in general concerned for some children. I mean the school has an idea of who is vulnerable and can keep contact with them, but what about the ones that fall under the radar?