Have state school teachers faced redundancy for not working during lockdown?

[notevenat20]

I recently read

I think those of us who work in the private sector understand we are going to have to work during periods of self isolation whilst juggling family. It was the same during lockdown. We want to keep our jobs so we will have to provide the service.

This got me wondering, is this a pressure state school teachers feel too?

Certainly at DC’s school no educational provision was given for almost all of lockdown (there were 6 key worker children in the school, out of 420).

It’s that lack of can-do attitude...

Negative bastards, teachers. They could’ve sorted the digital gap AND the attainment gap if only they’d tried harder.

@SmileEachDay

where did you honestly get that statistic from?

A survey of students and parents at my school. We are in an extremely deprived area.

I spent a day a week delivering food parcels.

You have no idea.

Thank you!!! Indeed many of us forget how bloody lucky we are!

Just to provide an example:

• large primary school in Wales
• no work was issued throughout the entire lockdown period
• parents and carers were repeatedly asked not to attempt to contact teachers
• the school was not open to key workers
• 3 teachers from the school volunteered to work in the key worker hubs. The others chose not to.
• direction from the head teacher was very clear. No school work is to be done; no teachers are to be contacted; no e-mails will be responded to.

I imagine fellow teachers on here may wonder how some schools got away with this, whilst others worked harder than ever to deliver an education.

The real travesty is that our government allowed such a huge variation in provision.
So much for state education being the great equaliser.

@zoras

Our schools sound identical. The line that bright children don't need any attention because "they will be fine" has been a recurring theme throughout DCs primary school lives.

The real travesty is that our government allowed such a huge variation in provision

Education is a devolved matter so Wales isn’t Gav’s remit. I thought Wales had a national online learning platform.

From what I've gathered so far (and I can't be arsed to pay much attention to this nonsense), OP didn't take this up with her DC's previous school, has changed schools and is now having a better experience.

@notevenat20 do you think you owe teachers in general a public apology? (You previously suggested the nation was owed an apology for teachers' shortcomings).

[quote Chaotic45]@LastGoldenDaysOfSummer I have googled and have not found anything meaningful. Hence my question on this thread where some teachers have pointed out that the curriculum was suspended.

The way this is referenced on here makes it sound to me as a non teacher that because of they suspended the curriculum they actually didn't require any teaching to be done. But, I didn't want to make an incorrect assumption, hence my asking if someone could clarify what it meant.

I'm not sure why you're so annoyed that I've asked, and why you think the information is ready available on google. Google is a minefield![/quote]
I'm irritated because the same thing comes up on a regular basis. It's tiresome going over the same ground constantly.

Asked and answered so many times that one might think the same question posted multiple times is just to wind up teachers. That's how it looks to me.

@SmileEachDay

It’s that lack of can-do attitude...

Negative bastards, teachers. They could’ve sorted the digital gap AND the attainment gap if only they’d tried harder.

I’m so ashamed.

I saw on twitter some bloke who went around on a bicycle with a whiteboard and taught kids through their living room window.

I didn’t do that either. So many missed opportunities.

notevenat20 do you think you owe teachers in general a public apology? (You previously suggested the nation was owed an apology for teachers' shortcomings).

I know the nation would be excited to hear this from me.

I am not sure you quoted me correctly. But now you mention it. I would like an apology from DCs school and one from the government on behalf of all the schools that did sweet FA to help their children during lockdown.

@noblegiraffe and @SmileEachDay

I can see how some of your comments are getting some parents backs up. Especially if they’ve struggled during lockdown and feel let down by their school/teacher.

I can see how some of your comments are getting some parents backs up

Oh no. Suitably chastened, I will be dutifully reverential of their comments in future. Solid gold nuggets of wisdom and not goady teacher-bashing as they all are.

I agree Overtherainbow those posters do come across as a bit know-it-all.

I purchased some online lessons from the US. These were live lessons, we just needed to check time zones.

These were incredible sessions with passionate teachers with excellent subject knowledge.

I now feel the traditional school set up has huge limitations as I do feel that the right online learning can be brilliant.

There is a lot to say for live lessons. My friend's school said zoom lessons couldn't work because of safeguarding, whereas other schools made sure they took place in a communal area of the home and were recorded. Also I think that to deliver zoom lessons you may need a different skill set.
It would be awful to have boring uninspired zoom lessons.

I have to say I think lots of kids will have done well out of the school environment if their home environment was a good one..

Key Advantages that we found were:

No poor behaviour from classmates.
No wasted time at school assemblies, nor wising for the register or the over- focus on sats for primary and attendance.

Immediate feedback rather than a once a year report and a 5 minute recap with an over tired and under resourced teacher.

And I just probably diverged from the main point of the thread.

The point of the thread was to bash teachers so you’re doing just fine.

Noble are you a teacher?

Did you read my post? I just went on about how inspiring the teachers were that taught my children online?

Oh sorry if they are not UK based teachers is that not good enough for you? Speaking about excellent teaching in the states is not allowed?

And I just probably diverged from the main point of the thread.

But it was very interesting! We found online art lessons that were 4 quid an hour. They were amazing and so much better than anything DC had had at school in art. I am not sure they had ever had an art lesson in fact at all at primary.

They should use them in the schools now they are open!

Zoras I hope you are now homeschooling full time.......

In contrast to the over-tired U.K. provision from know-it-alls...

Crikey we can’t afford to lose staff now! Cover is about to ramp up and supply teachers are already starting to say now.

notevanat20 it truly is amazing.

I can see why there has been such a big take up on home school provision.

No we are not homeschooling but that is something we are saving up to do now.

To be honest if the school has not been so poor I would not have found out about all the brilliant resources out there. So much of it free or reasonably priced.

I believe some of the US provision is so outstanding because they have a might higher proportion of homeschooling so have a ready made market for that type of provision. Also, the States have so many technical colleges that offer so much educational classes open to all.

in contrast to the over-tired U.K. provision from know-it-alls...

Let me summarise.

Many schools are great. Many teachers worked really hard and did their best.

Some schools are shit. Some teachers did the bare minimum they could get away with. You might blame that on the leadership in the shit schools instead of the teachers who were just taking what they could. Or you might blame them both.

Teachers on Mumsnet cannot stand to hear criticism of the shit schools and teachers.

And to finish, the answer to my question is no.

I think it is a really sad comment that assemblies are wasted time in your view.

Teachers on Mumsnet cannot stand to hear criticism of the shit schools and teachers.

You do love your generalisations.

I agree with Piggy assemblies provide a moral compass which is important.

Tell us what your job is and we will incessantly criticise it, if you like extrapolating outwards from our individual experience.

Based on your art comment, your issues with the school well pre date covid and lockdown has given you an opportunity to gather troops for a vent under the guise of feminist and/or educational concerns.