Primary Schools plans’ for future homeschooling

[Lemons1571]

The government guidance says something along the lines of “schools need to be ready to immediately switch to remote learning to minimise disruption”. Presumably this is if a bubble bursts or there is a bigger local lockdown in the area.

So, how are the primary schools going to manage home learning when parents are also working and unavailable to input / manage / set up this “provision”.

I would like a plan B for my family, but I can’t think of one. If there is a local lockdown we can’t have anyone else in the house (eg vulnerable grandparent) to help. I work 9-6 no flex, DH works out of the home 9-5. Mortgage needs paying. I can’t try and enthuse a primary aged child to do some homeschool at 7am or 7pm, it just wouldn’t happen and wouldn’t be fair. But then not paying the mortgage if I don’t work isn’t exactly a great plan either.

Does anyone know if primary schools have a plan that doesn’t assume all families have a sahp able to support this? Does anyone else have a plan B?

You work from home if poss or take unpaid leave. The whole thing is a big big mess.

Locally, anyone who can afford it (which isn't many people) has moved their child to private school in the last month I just discovered. They say it's because of the appalling lack of support they got in lockdown and their fear it will be repeated this coming year. That is the natural consequence of the defeatist approach some of the state sector has taken, sadly.

There is no solution that will suit everyone.

Live, online teaching is not suitable for most primary school children.

Primary schools will be the last to close in a lockdown, and I imagine most schools will use Oak Academy lessons.

Teacher interaction and feedback is obviously ideal but it’s likely many school or class closures will be due to teachers becoming ill.

I think we just have to hope that it won't be for a prolonged period again, 2 weeks is bearable even if it happens more than once. Hopefully too schools have taken on board feedback from parents regarding the home learning provision and will be looking at ways to improve it. They are having to pick up the pieces now with children returning and I am sure no teacher wants to see the children go through it all again. Ours have been so lovely, focusing on pastoral support last week to ease them back in and have spent time on talking about the feelings the children went through etc. I expect from next week though they will have to hit the ground running to try and catch all the children back up to where they should be

Unfortunately, if this happens it will end up being the parents that have to deal with it. It's unfortunate but it is the way it is. Employers will be sympathetic in some cases and allow parents to WFH but not everyone can. Some kids may have to be looked after by family members (if there is that sort of network within family groups) but they probably won't be making sure the kids will be doing school work. It's a difficult situation with no real answer. Unless of course parents decide to live on one wage and one parent gives up work for the foreseeable.

The key worker provision at DS's primary didn't supervise the completion of homework because they moved to a completely outdoor, socially distanced model to reduce transmission of Covid. Basically supervised running around on the field and in the woods, so that staff and pupils could keep apart as much as possible. So it achieved its sole aim, which was to enable parents to work, while minimising the risk from children being in school.

The key worker provision at DS's primary didn't supervise the completion of homework because they moved to a completely outdoor, socially distanced model to reduce transmission of Covid

Was there any educational support for the other children? In our case that was 414 out of 420 who got basically nothing.

There was a weekly menu of tasks for kids to complete as they saw fit. So, five online MyMaths tasks a week, plus ideas for writing (eg read a chapter of your favourite book and rewrite it from the POV of a different character) and topic tasks (eg research Roman recipes and create your own at home, or make a poster for a gladiator show, etc). I suspect DS's class were a mix of those who did everything, those who did a bit, and those who did precisely nothing. You could argue that they key worker kids had less opportunity to complete work than kids with an engaged SAHP - but they were probably better off than those with a totally unengaged SAHP, or those with full time WAH parents who spent most of their time watching TV so that their parents could work. At least they had lots of fresh air, exercise and a bit of interaction with other people.

I just don’t understand what anyone thinks could be a viable solution to the dilemma that if there is a lockdown, children need to be at home yet still have access to education.

OP asked: So, how are the primary schools going to manage home learning when parents are also working and unavailable to input / manage / set up this “provision”.

They’re just going to provide the access to learning materials and expect parents to facilitate it as best they are able.

What else could they do?

The difference between September and March is that the government says primary schools must make education provision on the curriculum for all pupils via remote learning if their setting has to shut. In March the guidelines were basically All School Is Shut, Good Luck, Figure It Out. They suspended the curriculum so schools were free to interpret that how they liked, so provision was patchy and some did brilliantly and some did not.

Keyworker provision is a red herring. If schools are shut this time, in localised areas or because someone in a bubble has tested positive for Covid-19, even keyworkers kids aren’t going to be in school. They’ll be in the same situation as the rest of us, scrambling with employers for unpaid parental leave or using annual leave to muddle through temporarily until their school reopens.

Schools can’t do more than offer access to remote learning - they can’t facilitate it for you in your own home. How you get your child to engage with the provision is your problem. What practical solution could there be to that?

If schools have no close and remove the keyworkers provision it will have a knock on effect with keyworker parents working in hospitals, emergency services etc not being at work whilst they are at home looking after their DC’s.

Yes, that is true, Parker. But the DFE guidance just says schools ‘may’ need to return to being open to vulnerable children and critical workers - and realistically, if there’s an outbreak in a particular school, they won’t be able to, will they? Staff will need to quarantine as well as children.

In the event of a local outbreak, the PHE health protection team or local authority may advise a school or number of schools to close temporarily to help control transmission. Schools will also need a contingency plan for this eventuality. This may involve a return to remaining open only for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers and providing remote education for all other pupils.

‘May’ is not ‘must’. They aren’t saying critical worker childcare must be planned for.

They’re just going to provide the access to learning materials and expect parents to facilitate it as best they are able.

What else could they do?

I guess the easy answer is they could mimic what good private schools have offered as closely as possible. There has been a huge gap so far for many state primaries.

If schools have to close because the bubble has burst the children will all need to be in isolation, there can be no key worker provision.

Schools can’t do more than offer access to remote learning - they can’t facilitate it for you in your own home. How you get your child to engage with the provision is your problem. What practical solution could there be to that?

In the same way I help my granny to use Skype. I don't just post her my username and sit and wait for her to call.

@notevenat20 but that involves money. Are parents willing to put hands in pockets to pay for it like fee paying parents do?

The return to key worker provision is when there's a local lockdown rather than a specific outbreak in a school.

@notevenat20

They’re just going to provide the access to learning materials and expect parents to facilitate it as best they are able.

What else could they do?

I guess the easy answer is they could mimic what good private schools have offered as closely as possible. There has been a huge gap so far for many state primaries.

What do you mean by this, though?

If no one’s there to make sure the child logs on to whatever remote learning is offered, what’s the solution to that? You can have all the teaching access set up you like, but it will still rely on kids either accessing it themselves while their parents work, or parents making sure their kids access it.

but that involves money. Are parents willing to put hands in pockets to pay for it like fee paying parents do?

That's possible though the PTA. There is also extra money from the government for home learning.

@notevenat20 what extra money for home learning?

@notevenat20

Schools can’t do more than offer access to remote learning - they can’t facilitate it for you in your own home. How you get your child to engage with the provision is your problem. What practical solution could there be to that?

In the same way I help my granny to use Skype. I don't just post her my username and sit and wait for her to call.

What do you mean by this? In your scenario, Skype exists, Granny can’t use it alone, you help Granny.

So online access to learning exists, children can’t use it alone, you help your children.

It still doesn’t solve a working parent’s dilemma of needing to be simultaneously at work and helping a child access online learning. There’s no way around that?

Good luck getting any PTA fundraising at the moment! People have little money and even less time/inclination to fundraise.

It still doesn’t solve a working parent’s dilemma of needing to be simultaneously at work and helping a child access online learning. There’s no way around that?*

Agree completely. The govt do say that it will take a lot to shut primaries.

Sorry I am obsessed with how bad school support has been during lockdown so was addressing that part.

I was referring to www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-catch-up-premium .

Oh the £80 per pupil which schools haven’t received yet, and is coming in 3 payments, so might not help with forward planning.

If parents are wfh you can’t do any form of teaching your DC’s, the last few months have shown that. It’s irrelevant whether the schools provide any material. Primary age children don’t work without supervision and support. Next term if the DC’s are at home again, the position wouldn’t change