If the schools close there should be no pretence that they have switched to "online learning".

[Billie18]

If the schools close they are shut. Schools are not equipped to deliver teaching online. Teachers have not been trained to teach online. Children are not equipped to learn online. The curriculum has not been designed to be taught online. If schools close then children will not be receiving an education. It is dishonest to pretend that they are.

So if the schools close then teachers should be furloughed and children's education should be paused at the point of closure. Closing schools should not be disguised as something it is not. This would allow the damage to continue indefinitely. If schools remain closed for a longer period then teachers should be made redundant so that they are free to do other work. This of course would be terrible and would hopefully not be allowed to happen... But then schools have already not been fully open for nearly a year.

Carlotta Are your children in a private school? If so, then I woukd say yes, complain. We had no barriers to providing good line learning. We had the money for MS Teams, we didn't have our curriculum suspended, we had stranded gap year students, teaching assistants and non teaching SLT/spare games staff to do the key worker and vulnerable children supervision in the computer rooms, we had no safeguarding restrictions put on us regarding not teaching live, the vast majority of our children had their own device and a good internet connection and we had enough ipads to lend out to those who didn't. 95% of our children are from stable, supportive homes so we didn't need to spend the huge amounts of time on welfare and safeguarding reasons schools did. 99% of our children are from financially stable homes and we weren't having to worry that they had basics like enough food to eat.

If your children are in a state school, I would not complain unless you have reason to think that none of the issues above are relevant excuses.

@CarlottaValdez schools now need to have a remote learning provision plan in place (they didn't at the beginning of the first lockdown and the Government suspended the curriculum so technically schools did not have to teach anything new). So things should be better. Don't think they have to provide live lessons though.

Have you had periods of isolation last term? What year groups are your DC in?

If schools go back in January you can ask what their plan is. Have they surveyed parents to find out what technology you have available at home? Pupil premium children should be provided with laptops if they don't have one at home.

Abraxan, it was pre October so maybe it’ll be a lot different if they shut again. Thank you that’s useful to know.

One of my kids (year 5 now) is at a private school in South East London. They went online pretty much instantaneously last time and gave him 3 hours of work a day in the form of videos/work uploaded. The teachers were busy doing it - some very stressed with the new format and we only got a small reduction in fees.

The teachers were definitely working hard and my son was kept busy but he says he didn’t learn anything new. Usually he gets lots of challenges etc.

The point though is he went back to school with no gaps and has learnt loads this term.

If you keep education somewhat going it is still better than doing nothing for months. Yes, it is a bit of a pretence but it is doing the best in the circumstances for as many kids as possible.
The problem with school closures is that if lots of keyworkers and vulnerable kids attend, then the teachers might be too thinly stretched. My suggestion for school closures is to have supervising staff in schools ensuring kids there get supervision doing the online learning and for the actual teachers to deliver online learning at home or in separate classrooms.

This has to be one of the most stupid posts I've ever read.

I cannot believe anyone is so thick they want to make every teacher in the country redundant and is suggesting they find a different job. Because, lets face it - these are educated, intelligent people with skills who are presumably quite capable of doing so.

What do they think will happen after that? What a stupid suggestion for the future of all our children.

Live online lessons are not a magic bullet. My school now requires live lessons for closed bubbles (but not single isolators) - but in the form of a taught intro and a class plenary. An hour 40 via teams doesn't necessarily work.
With my year 11 when they were off recently, I did a bit of input, some class discussion, some modelling and then they did a 25 minute independent task before logging back in for feedback. Then they submitted the work for me to mark. We're also expected to record it for anyone who can't attend live.
My year 12 class will be getting me talking through a ppt (exactly as they would in class) and then some tasks.
Live online lessons were never a no for us because we had very clear guidance on NOT appearing on camera, and Teams set up so students can't. We did things differently in lockdown (even within departments - my class were getting a full timetable with a mix of set tasks and live lessons, whereas others were setting more ad hoc tasks) but now we have a very clear policy. We also have laptops for all staff and always have. Without that, we'd have been stuck.
I think complaining is the wrong approach - but you should ask to see the policy.

“My children had fantastic online teaching during the last lockdown. I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Umm..we are talking about the fact that whilst some schools and teachers have clearly
done brilliantly (including your child’s school) some have been incredibly poor and done the bare minimum - clearly seeing it as an opportunity for some paid time off. That’s what we are talking about!

It is also not a criticism of schools or teachers to be honest and say that it is impossible to simply "switch" to something they are not qualified or equipped to do.

But many ARE qualified and equipped to teach online and remotely.
Many have also learnt how to do so since March.

Over my 24 years of teaching I have learnt how to adapt and teach in many different ways. My first teaching job I had a blackboard and chalk still. Even as a computing teacher I didn't have an interactive whiteboards for the first half of my career, let alone teaching via wireless devices and remotely from another location, but like pretty much every other teaching staff I've learnt and adapted with time,

Since training the staff at my school in various key skills in early March, very quickly, I've seen even the most IT-averse teacher develop a whole raft of new tech skills and become adept at remote learning from initially creating worksheet style tasks on the learning platform to being able to create full length pre-recorded slideshow lessons with video attachments, voice overs and external links.

You may be surprised at just how well many schools are doing with remote and online learning.

My DC comp and 6th form college have been teaching the normal schedule since day 1

It’s not ideal, and some teachers are better at it than others, but all in all I have to say I’ve been quite impressed

Really disagree with the OP- our schools were great during lockdown and the teachers were clearly working hard- but I can see that it was extremely difficult for many families and that in any further lockdown we would need to look at how to redress that balance.

The best plan would be to make schools safer medium term, as a sensible national policy, alongside vaccine roll out.

And also to look at putting smaller classes into schools, which would have all sorts of benefits.

Even when we roll out the vaccine, a) this may not be the last we hear of covid (which could mutate further especially if we have very poor mitigations in schools) and b) we could have other pandemics arise in future, in our interconnected cosmopolitan world. And they could be more of a threat, so thinking about future mitigation would be really sensible, especially if measures might enhance education.

I am inclined to agree,,,my secondary school child had zero online lessons during the last lockdown..I have little confidence it will be any better next week.

I agree OP, I have two children in primary school. They have recieved no online lessons. They were given tasks to do but any teaching was done by me. Their teachers spent their time teaching their own children or sunbathing.

Are the key worker's children going to get taught when they are in school as they won't be at home for the online learning, how does that work. Sorry if it is already in the thread and I missed it.

Online lessons are not mandated now and weren't then. Complaining about that is pointless.
Complaining about no work being set or marked after October is worthwhile.

The truth is provision, in scope, approach and quality varied as massively as every neighbourhood in which a school exists.

DS1's was incredibly poor verging on nonexistent, DD's was outstanding, DS2's was sort of ok.

But I am sick of hearing the posters from middle-class la-la-land who think vulnerable children all went to school, got provided with laptops, that no 12 year olds were home alone for 14 hour days, or minding younger siblings whilst their parents worked, or went hungry or didn't have any access to anything at all, and they should just bloody well get on with it and if their life chances are fucked then that's on their parents.

It sounds like you/ your children have had a bad experience. Obviously it’s not the same but you can still get a lot done. My exam classes had online learning all through lockdown and are in a pretty good position to sit the exams this year

@TheAlphaandtheOmega

Are the key worker's children going to get taught when they are in school as they won't be at home for the online learning, how does that work. Sorry if it is already in the thread and I missed it.

In my school, They'll be supervised whilst they join the online lessons via teams.

@TheAlphaandtheOmega

Are the key worker's children going to get taught when they are in school as they won't be at home for the online learning, how does that work. Sorry if it is already in the thread and I missed it.

If the OP has their way, there will presumably be no provision for Key Workers at all because all the school staff will be furloughed.

Well they were told to be prepared by october and my ds school had been checking for months who has what provisions at home and handing out laptops etc to Those who don't so some schools are prepared and our school is a state , deprived area

@Billie18 completely agree. That's certainly been the experience at my children's schools.

I don't blame individual teachers though.

One of the things that saddens me is the teachers individually are busting a gut to send stuff out but it's inappropriate and inaccessible and pretty useless.

All that wasted we effort.

Then parents, rightly, aren't happy. Teachers take it personally and then resent parents.

All the while children and young people are failed.

I just hope lessons have been learned from the massive failures of the last lockdown.

I'll gladly take the furlough over the stress and the hours put in the last time along with entertaining a 4 year old. Hours were spent preparing and trying to engage for a vast majority of kids not to bother doing anything. They had the equipment as you could see they'd been on line, made comments and then deleted them so you didn't realise they can actually access the work!

Not true op. Whilst teachers cannot be forced to teach by Zoom etc they are still obliged to set work online and send learner packs to those without Internet access. Plus have keywoker and vulnerable kids in school if they close for others.
Plus during the last term my Prmary dds teacher had to set work weekly for any kids isolating or on bubble closure
It is not an ideal solution of course but wtf is the point of all these paid for online courses available to home educated kids and others who can't access education.
Nasty teacher bashing op and I am a parent not a teacher.

@TheAlphaandtheOmega

Are the key worker's children going to get taught when they are in school as they won't be at home for the online learning, how does that work. Sorry if it is already in the thread and I missed it.

Many schools remote learning plans now have them being supervised and supported to access the remote learning set for the rest of their classes. So they all do the same.

However, the OP wants schools completely closed and staff furloughed, so key workers and vulnerable children won't have that access either.

Please furlough me. I've been tears all day with this new prospect. I really dont understand why we are in line for so much vitriol from all sides.

I really didn't believe that there were people as spiteful, shortsighted, cruel and just downright thick as the OP who has to win the prize for the most poisonous post about professionals who just do a JOB yet. Fuck off and fuck off some more. To know that there are people like you sending their kids to me, in tier 4, with no safety measures on Monday makes me sick.

I have worked flat out throughout both lockdowns. I continue to do so at great risk to myself and my family. Because it's not the kids fault they have you, OP, and many like you as a parent. While we might be disposable to the OP, the children (usually) appreciate us. Probably even more so when there's a massive teacher shortage because how many teachers do you think would go back after such treatment?

Are you actually Katie Hopkins or someone?