66% of my daughters reception class are in school this week

[Crazyoldmaurice]

We live in a very affluent part of South West London, avg house price 750k+

Turns out that 66% of my daughters reception class are due to attend school this week. There are 75 kids in her year group and all 48 keyworker child places have been taken (I was too late to book her on so have had to send an email!).

Hardly seems worth keeping the 25 other kids off at this point.

Honestly the worksheets to print out are less stressful because I don't necessarily want my dc on screens for hours (under 6) & listening to the teacher & other kids is distracting.

Yesterday after 4-5 hours on line we spent 3 hours doing the actual work because it's difficult to do it in the live lesson.

I’m glad primary isn’t live here

It’s working well in secondary though

But for primary I prefer the approach we have - a mix of video and work on paper / screen

But to Muddy look at the guidelines there should definitely be teaching even if not live

This is never going to improve if schools are pretty much full. Our council are quite strict. Needs to be both parents keyworkers out of the home.

@rolliy

Your right it doesn't have to actually be "live"but they cannot send random bits & only teach keyworker children which is want the poster said.

My dc can log on to the live classroom & it's the same provision. The children in school don't get extra attention.

At my son’s school the online learning consists of a half hour session with the teacher being told what to do do that day. They are then left to get on with it themselves for the rest of the day, with access to a couple of pre recorded videos from the teacher.

Meanwhile the children in school get the attention of their usual teacher AND teaching assistant all day long. Class sizes are around a third what they normally are, and so the children get far more individual help and attention than they would on a normal school day.

Thank god I’m a key worker, but this really is giving all the key worker children an unfair advantage, whilst the others are going to lag behind.

@Doris86 look at the guidance I quoted. Schools cannot do that

[quote rolliy]@Doris86 look at the guidance I quoted. Schools cannot do that [/quote]
The pre recorded videos my sons school provides presumably meet those requirements?

If it's 3 hours then yes

Would you rather they broadcast from the class with all the kids logged in. It's not ideal

No none of it is ideal. However it is giving the key worker children a big advantage, smaller class sizes and being with the teacher all day.

That's not true for all schools. At the school I work in & my dcs school the TAs/support staff are supervising the school kids. The teachers are zoom until 2 & then marking everyone's work. We have to upload the home stuff for feedback

In most schools, the key worker children are accessing the same content as the children at home, via a device. They are not getting extra help as the people on duty are often teaching their own lessons and would be socially distancing anyway. The children are probably bloody cold too as all the windows and doors are likely to be wide open. Plus, they are more likely to catch the virus and bring it home to their families. This really is a service that should only be taken by the genuine key workers, who would probably prefer their children to be at home with them, keeping safe.

I'd say the only benefit being in is socialisation but that depends on friendship groups & siblings.

It REALLY isn’t an advantage. It has made me admire the doctors and nurses even more.

That's why I keep saying that if I was furloughed, SAH I would educate from home. An engaged parent at home who has time is the best option I would think

Oh I should clarify my eldest is 7. If I had teenage dc I would expect them to be fully on remote lessons

@BustopherPonsonbyJones

In most schools, the key worker children are accessing the same content as the children at home, via a device. They are not getting extra help as the people on duty are often teaching their own lessons and would be socially distancing anyway. The children are probably bloody cold too as all the windows and doors are likely to be wide open. Plus, they are more likely to catch the virus and bring it home to their families. This really is a service that should only be taken by the genuine key workers, who would probably prefer their children to be at home with them, keeping safe.

It seems it depends on school and set up.

In some cases yes in others the teacher is in class with remote either watching live or not.

I much prefer your version but it’s not always the case.

You can talk to the school & complain if you are not happy with the provision.

Fact is not many provisions would be ideal really would it? For any parents trying to WFH. With young Primary age kids. It’s either stress of complex tasks with far too many links/ attachments for just 1 piece of work, the faff involved in getting everything together you need before even started the stress of getting a hyper 4-7 year old at home to concentrate and complete it. Or live lessons on a tiny laptop screen with dodgy connections always going wrong and getting then to engage/ focus / not just sit there picking their nose. It all needs your pretty constant supervision. Which makes trying to do your job alongside near impossible. It’s so stressful.

@formerbabe I have no idea why a childminder with no ratio issues needs their children to have a kw place though?
Do you regularly look after 3 or 4 small children For 9 hours a day? And I don’t mean just keeping them fed and reasonably entertained, but actually educating them as required by ofsted? Add in to that trying to sort out home schooling a couple of extra children. Honestly, if you are doing both of those things Properly, I think you will be heading for a breakdown by the end of the month!

Childminding does not involve putting the tv on for the day and sitting down With your feet up.

[quote Maryann1975]**@formerbabe* I have no idea why a childminder with no ratio issues needs their children to have a kw place though?*
Do you regularly look after 3 or 4 small children For 9 hours a day? And I don’t mean just keeping them fed and reasonably entertained, but actually educating them as required by ofsted? Add in to that trying to sort out home schooling a couple of extra children. Honestly, if you are doing both of those things Properly, I think you will be heading for a breakdown by the end of the month!

Childminding does not involve putting the tv on for the day and sitting down With your feet up.[/quote]
They seem to manage in school holidays.

It's hard for lots of people wfh but they're doing it because we're supposed to be in lockdown.

Do people actually get that if schools insist on two key worker parents to get a place, the whole system could collapse.

It is likely that the key worker parent earns less than the non key worker parent. And likely that their terms and conditions of work are less favourable than The non keyworker.
Which do you think is going to give up work to facilitate the other parent carrying on.

Like many families I know, it will be me, as the critical worker giving up work. I’m putting my family at more risk Of the virus by working in close contact with other people, so it will be me giving up work to enable my Dh to bring in the higher wage and therefore pay the mortgage. I know many more critical workers who have said this too.

@formerbabe I have never been asked to homeschool my children in the school holidays, so I’ve no experience in doing what you are suggesting. Normally my own children either join in with our walks to the park, joining in the craft/sensory activities we are doing, go out with friends, or enetertain themselves. None of those things are what is being asked of them during this period of school closures.

I know it’s difficult for a lot of people trying to work from home, which is why as a cm to 5 out of 6 key worker families I’ve stayed open. The trade off to this is that my own dc need a school place.

If the little ones in my care are being ignored by me as I try to homeschool, they may as well be at home being ignored by their parents Who are trying to work.

The government have deemed that early years is vital to stay open as it’s so important to the children’s lives, so if it’s being done, it should be done properly.

They seem to manage in school holidays.

Who homeschools in the holidays? Plus not all CMs work AYR.

So...there's plenty of people struggling to home and wfh. I can't see why a childminder would be more in need of a place than an accountant for example. We're in a lockdown, what's the point of closing schools if only children with a sahp stay at home.