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.

[quote BustopherPonsonbyJones]@Manteo
The OP suggested it and it seems popular with the teachers too. The parents of the children who didn’t get to go to school would like it as key worker children wouldn’t be in either (so it’s fair). You don’t have to feel angry when you see the teachers posting videos of themselves drinking gin and sunbathing because they aren’t being paid. You are all expert Twink users because you had to teach your children for nine months with no other material or help, so you can keep your children on track. Shall I email Boris or will you?[/quote]
I thought it was generally agreed that the OP was slightly ridiculous?

I'd be all for this idea if I could be furloughed too!

Bizarre. Just a different way of doing things. My DC learnt well over the last lockdown. Millions of people are working online now. By your reasoning we should all throw in the towel. A lot of services are working extremely well with home working. You just don't know it.

This is one of the worst threads I've come across on here. OP is so out of touch with reality.

I agree. And those who disagree may have had an amazing online teaching experience. What about those that haven’t? And the gap widens.

Teacher here, capable of teaching online no problem but owing to the nature of my class (SEND, most require 1-1 support to complete work) I do need parents to support their children. However I do my best to take the pressure off by using lots of videos, audio powerpoints and interactive games to support my live lessons. So I could do that, or have a couple of months relaxing at home (educating my own child) on 80% of my salary??? I wouldn't mind at this point to be honest!!

A lot of schools did deliver remote learning successfully, but a large number didn’t. The reasons for that were varied, but even if the school does provide adequate teaching and resources, it still doesn’t mean all children will be able or willing to access it. Also, key workers children are being looked after in school, but they should not be receiving teaching whilst they are there. It’s designed to be childcare only and anything else disadvantages other children who are not attending.

Some schools and teachers are organised and can teach their lessons online. Others are not organised or have lessons like cooking or PE that is much harder to teach online. I find the problem at my sons school is the Headteacher who stated students should only receive 1 1/2 hours online learning each day. Good job as early retired teacher I teach child myself for 3 hours each day. Even then when he goes back to school they go through the work I have taught again so no one falls behind. This results in it bring pointless to keep my child on target with specification when other parents don't, due to working full time or inability to teach subjects to their kids. Sometimes teachers set work for afternoon, and my son gets really angry because only 2 or 3 kids do it. Then more time wanted when they do get back to school. It is very frustrating and I think the government should order teachers to teach at least 4 Hours online learning each day. I just wish they would simply redo this year.

Yes please, I'd loved to be furloughed instead of working my whole Easter holidays and managing an online class plus teaching a key worker group- where can I sign up for this please?

furlough??? proper furlough???

So no planning, no marking, no assessments, no making resources, no dealing with school/parent/student queries, no ucas support, no supporting vulnerable students, no reference writing, no dealing with exam boards, no CAG, no extra-curricular, and absolutely no on-line delivery?

@Frestba

Bizarre. Just a different way of doing things. My DC learnt well over the last lockdown. Millions of people are working online now. By your reasoning we should all throw in the towel. A lot of services are working extremely well with home working. You just don't know it.

Ah so your chips worked well? So that’s the basis of you assuming that everyone else children should work well too, yes? How about if I told you that my child spent most of his lockdown learning laying on the floor crying? Would you say that was a good physical and emotion position for learning or not so good?

I agree with the 1st part of your post. My 5 year old relied solely on us as parents to learn anything during school closures, and we both work full-time in highly responsible jobs. It was an utter nightmare. The school uploaded worksheets from twinkl, and no other input for 3 months. If this happens again it will be detrimental to our health. There was no online learning, it was parents becoming teachers in our case. It just doesn't work for primary aged kids.

@SantaAssociationRepresentitve wooooo hoooooo. Where do we sign up ??

@Char2015

This is one of the worst threads I've come across on here. OP is so out of touch with reality.

This! I am not saying online is the gold standard but my school pupils will have 5 Lessons a day delivered by their teacher. Interactive!

So get a clue op.

There was no online learning,
There was no requirement for online learning in the first lockdown.
There is still no requirement for online learning.

@Scottishgirl85

I agree with the 1st part of your post. My 5 year old relied solely on us as parents to learn anything during school closures, and we both work full-time in highly responsible jobs. It was an utter nightmare. The school uploaded worksheets from twinkl, and no other input for 3 months. If this happens again it will be detrimental to our health. There was no online learning, it was parents becoming teachers in our case. It just doesn't work for primary aged kids.

It was the same for most of our friends. I was getting up at 4am to work for 5 hours so I could spend 9-12 working with our younger child whilst DH worked. Then he would take time in then afternoon. Both of us worked well into the evening. It was exhausting but the only way we could adequately supervise learning and do our jobs. I’m not looking forward to the second round.

@ovrrtherainbow, actually you are wrong. My foster son has a SW as do is entitled to attend school as classed as vulnerable but his school refused to have more than 5 children in first lockdown. They took 4 nurses children and 1 GP child. They even refused the child of a chemist. Said they did not have enough staff as most clinically vulnerable so refused to come to school. No one did a thing about it. I complained to Head and was told not enough staff on site to make it safe for my FS to come in and it was pointed out I was at home do could look after child at home. The difference between schools and their attitudes towards students is massive. There are some very good schools above and beyond and some really poor schools using many excuses not to teach the kids in school or online. That is the problem some kids are getting s good deal and others not.

@DBML Many thanks for taking the time to explain that. It’s good to hear that won’t be happening again - for both you and the children.

[quote Ihatemyseleffordoingthis]@Iamsodonewith2020

That is really just not the case
My 3 (Y10, 8 and 5 at the time were off from March 19 - to end of July. that is a term and a couple of weeks whichever way you add it up.
DS 1 - then Y10 had 10 x 1 hour sessions in first 2 weeks July).
DS 2 primary school didn't re-open for any other than vulnerable and keyworker children, nor did many round here. ECV staff, and inadequate facilities.

I don't agree with the OP, but the situation for many many children and young people really was not ok[/quote]
In contrast my primary, by mid june had all year groups in in one form or another.

First it was the groups advised by the government. Then we had y5. Then we had the y4 keyworker group that we just filled to capacity. Y2 and 3 were the only ones not in (and we start from pre school) but there were quite a few of them in the keyworker/vulnerable group.

I'm just a TA but I still worked even at the height of lockdown, either at school, at home or out and about delivering food and work packages. On the deliveries I just took DD with me as her school managed to wrangle being fully shut for a month, then they joined a hub in the next town over which made things tricky, so they only had 5 kids in and finally reopened in June.
I worked the whole of the Easter holiday in school.

And marking! My foster son year 9 in first lockdown did not get 1 piece of work marked or feedback given. He got very little work set even. 3 pieces of Maths during first lockdown and not differentiated do very easy.

No what I'm saying is that a huge amount if effort was put in by teachers. It worked well for some. It wasn't a pretence.

@Iamsodonewith2020

Also schools were shut to most students for 1/2 a term. Not 6 months, not a year but 1/2 a term!!! After may half term schools were open for 1/2 the children at school plus the vulnerable and keyworkers children.

Again it depends on where you live. Here, schools didn't go back at all (Apart from key worker) until august

Wow this is a new level of teacher hating!
In August all schools received bundles of guidance from the gov and part of this was that we MUST prepare a system that would enable online teaching and learning to take place in the event of another national LD. my school has spent every staff meeting training all staff how to make and deliver online lessons. Most schools have done.
You sound very bitter OP.

Same here. My children have received one terms of education since March.

Maybe a DP should be furloughed rather than the teachers. I probably could have helped DS 14 navigate through his 20/30 emails per day and work presented differently by subjects, if I wasn't already doing my own stressful job wfh which had become a bit tricky because of lockdown.

This time although DS is at secondary i'm seriously considering taking some unpaid leave as last time was so stressful. We're in Scotland and he is in the first year of studying for his Nat 5s, so if it's more than a couple of weeks I really worry he'll fall behind unless there are live or recorded lessons.

NB DS is at a private school and it is the management team rather than individual teachers that should be coordinating things.

I complained to Head and was told not enough staff on site to make it safe for my FS to come in

Where did you expect the head to conjure up staff from? Seriously?