A contingency plan for state education

[herecomesthsun]

I think that we should be looking at a way to mobilise volunteers to put together materials to support home learning for schools, right now. I am thinking of support tailored around the schools' curriculum, that would support both the pupils and the staff. I think you need teachers (and criminal checks and safeguarding) in any real time interaction with the pupils. However, I am thinking that pre-recorded videos and extension work, tailored to the needs of the course, might well be something that retired/ trainee teachers/ graduate parents/ retired university staff etc. might be able to help with. Also, if schools teamed up to work together on course materials, they might stop duplicating some of the work, and end up with really good resources that could be widely shared.

My DS goes to a state school where they are probably setting quite challenging work, but there's no reason why resources couldn't be created, maybe together, and shared across schools, for kids who are able/ interested.

I am finding it a bit galling to read all this "oh aren't private schools so wonderful, they have their pupils on zoom from 8 till 6, they have such an advantage. " Well, it's great if this suits some schools and some pupils. However there are a LOT of advantages to asynchronous learning.

I think we haven't started to tap the potential of the internet for good in teaching and education and covid could be an excellent opportunity.

I also have a vested interest of course in that we've been shielding. We have loads of A levels and degrees in this house as it happens and have taught at Uni level, so are well equipped to teach for home schooling. But I don't want my son to lose his school place for good and I also would be really happy to help in this situation if I can.

Have you looked at Oak National Academy? A lot of what you seem to be talking about is already in place.

Completely agree OP

I would be very happy to help tutor remotely, so would my mum - I’m 11-18 maths trained and my mum science. I don’t understand why getting in touch with teachers who aren’t currently working isn’t part of contingency plans.

I've just been accepted to teach with Outschool. It's predominantly American but they just started taking UK teachers in April. At the moment I'm offering non-curriculum classes but in the autumn I'll offer KS2 English classes.

I agree, online learning hasn't been used or considered as much as it could, looking forward to the new school year.

@herecomesthsun

I think that we should be looking at a way to mobilise volunteers to put together materials to support home learning for schools, right now. I am thinking of support tailored around the schools' curriculum, that would support both the pupils and the staff. I think you need teachers (and criminal checks and safeguarding) in any real time interaction with the pupils. However, I am thinking that pre-recorded videos and extension work, tailored to the needs of the course, might well be something that retired/ trainee teachers/ graduate parents/ retired university staff etc. might be able to help with. Also, if schools teamed up to work together on course materials, they might stop duplicating some of the work, and end up with really good resources that could be widely shared.

My DS goes to a state school where they are probably setting quite challenging work, but there's no reason why resources couldn't be created, maybe together, and shared across schools, for kids who are able/ interested.

I am finding it a bit galling to read all this "oh aren't private schools so wonderful, they have their pupils on zoom from 8 till 6, they have such an advantage. " Well, it's great if this suits some schools and some pupils. However there are a LOT of advantages to asynchronous learning.

I think we haven't started to tap the potential of the internet for good in teaching and education and covid could be an excellent opportunity.

I also have a vested interest of course in that we've been shielding. We have loads of A levels and degrees in this house as it happens and have taught at Uni level, so are well equipped to teach for home schooling. But I don't want my son to lose his school place for good and I also would be really happy to help in this situation if I can.

It’s a good idea.

Sadly it would take leadership and funding and our current shite show of a government won’t properly fund schools and don’t appear to be able to offer any sort of leadership.

I’m sure they’d love it if lots of people organised this for them and offered their services for free though!

So, as far as I can see the provision via the Oak National Academy is fairly uniform and doesn't address differences in curriculum / ability etc. I am thinking that it would be possible to provide input that was less generic than that, and could call on the skills and expertise of a wider range of people. I know several retired teachers who might be willing to help (who might even miss being able to use their skills). Remote provision would mean that people who might otherwise need to retire for shielding purposes could still help out, with recording or planning resources.

What I foresee is that we go back to school with everyone urged that it's safe, then we have a resurgence of infection, and then there are panic stations as there is no provision in place etc etc. I can also imagine that some vulnerable children or family members might get ill or die, and then the vulnerable are told to stay at home, but there is not adequate provision for them.

I think it has been very tough on teachers in all sorts of ways in the current situation. I don't think it is fair to put them in a position where they might be asked to teach one lot of kids in school and then provide resources for another lot remotely.

I also think that we are able as a society to put together the remote resources. We should be using everything we've got, Open University back catalogue, graduate parents, librarians, authors, everyone. The kids are the future of this country and there is a lot we can do to improve the range and variety of modes of access of their education .

I’m a teacher. There will be provisions in my place for home schooling from September.

It’s quite likely bubbles will burst

I like your ideas about shielding teachers.

A study by Harvard has called for education leaders to look more closely at the 'zoom zombies' created by hours and hours of screen learning. they recommend a maximum of 4 hours for older pupils and 2 for the youngest. thought you might find that interesting OP

Massolit does some wonderful stuff in some subjects that sounds a bit like what you mean.

It’s a good idea for secondary. Probably a bit late to organise now, the government have no appetite for this apart from paying for oak academy.

I’ve found with my primary child, that the schools can provide the most wonderful resources in the world. But if both parents are working full time and completely unable to help between 9-6, then with the best will in the world it doesn’t really happen.

Younger kids need more than resources, they need someone to guide / teach / manage / correct / help / reassure. Having a parent who is only able to look over their shoulder at upset stuck child and say “if you can just wait 2 hours I’ll have a quick look at lunchtime”, well the whole thing is basically a road to nowhere.

What @Lemons1571 said. Online work is next to useless before year 5 or so without parents supervising and supporting. Many parents of children that age think they want work set from school, but in reality they want lots and lots of the kinds of activities where children are kept quiet and can work independently. Teachers know those activities have very little educational impact for young children. They are holding activities not progressing activities unfortunately.

We had a fairly good experience of homeschooling here with a year 3 and a year 7.

Our year 3 is fairly resourceful and independent and happy to sit and do art some of the time and we could devote some 1 to 1 time for teaching maths & doing English etc. I think a total of 2 hours focussed work was about enough.

I think offline was better for the year 7, the school suggested 3 hours a day and provided or suggested extension activities and that worked fine.

What worries me is that we are now told that they are all supposed to go back together, and for the teachers and the families who are supposed to be shielding, it is a bit like Russian roulette. If the bubbles "burst" then we are back to home-schooling, but in the process people will get infected and some of us might be very ill or die. My son is really worried about what this might entail - he doesn't want to be left without a mum,which would be a real possibility.

If the shielding teachers were to be paid anyway, and the shielding parents (those who could) were willing to help out, then working together to pull together a plan might work out at reasonably good value. There would be a lot of goodwill, as there was with the NHS volunteers, and I think many people would love to find a way to help with such a good cause, with a lot of potential benefit for the future.

I think, as a society, we need to think hard what is important for the future,and put our time and energy where it is needed (here!)

Oak Academy is being totally revamped for September so don’t assume it will be the same as now.