Realistically, what provision would you like to see for your child at home

[Ravenclawlass]

If you are having to keep your child at home,
What would you realistically like to see the school provide in terms of provision? What would impress you or make your life easier?

What do you expect to be getting?

As a teacher I'd like to know how to make this easier for the parents of the children in my class.

Oh and yes to “full class” activities every so often - even if only setting a date/time, kicking off the zoom and then letting the kids chat to each other.

@TheTurnOfTheScrew

some video teaching - not live. Just a short introduction to worksheets would be great - eg 10 minutes reminding the DC about what they've done on the topic previously, what the new learning is, and how it all fits together.

Feedback given on work submitted.

Perhaps a couple of optional 15min social zooms each week for everyone to keep in touch? Different times each week though to accommodate different working patterns as much as possible.

No craft/baking/big projects or other parent-intensive work please.

This is very sensible. I do think videos are much better as they allow that flexibility that is going to be so key for most working parents.

In an ideal world...

1. A printed pack each week
2. A daily check in - maybe 30 mins at most
3. Really clear and easy instructions. If you're trying to multi-task this is key.
4. Activities that can be done independently, even if it's just watching a video
5. Clear expectations. Tasks that really need doing. Tasks that should be done. Nice to haves. Extension activities.

Basically I need a prioritised to do list!!!

Actual zoom lessons. I know this isn't always achievable but feel it's only way to get my 8 year old ds focused. Actually seeing his teacher on a screen

@saffire

Oh and maybe a cheat sheet for parents! Things like what is a LO etc and how to work stuff out, especially for maths as we learnt different ways hundreds of years ago.

That's a fab idea. I'll take that to My team tomorrow :) we always provide answers but actually showing how we got to the answer so you know how to do other questions or explain the LO ect

A mix of live teaching, video, independent exercises and links to existing resources. We've just got links to existing resources, no teaching or delivery of content of any kind by teachers themselves planned at the moment and I'm pretty disappointed. Many other schools are doing much better thus time around. One local school is having each class have 4x 20 min 'input sessions' which are taught but available as videos after, then a series of independent tasks but questions and queries can be sent and responded to quickly, plus individual zooms once a week and end of day check in. This would be amazing.

@alliejay81

In an ideal world...

1. A printed pack each week
2. A daily check in - maybe 30 mins at most
3. Really clear and easy instructions. If you're trying to multi-task this is key.
4. Activities that can be done independently, even if it's just watching a video
5. Clear expectations. Tasks that really need doing. Tasks that should be done. Nice to haves. Extension activities.

Basically I need a prioritised to do list!!!

Number 5 is a great idea and will really help parents not worry about certain tasks and prioritise tasks appropriately

My DS is 4 so probably wouldn’t tolerate lengthy live teaching via zoom, but my god he’d probably love to see his teachers face and his classmates

@whatkatydid2013

Lots of online stuff I’d have found much more stressful as we’d have had to get kids engaged to do specific things at specific times. The one thing not offered I think would have been really good was a 1:1 catch up with the teacher once every couple of weeks on zoom or it’s equivalent. The eldest in particular really missed having the chance to show someone from school what she’d done and get their feedback it was right (or what was wrong). That would have really impressed me but suspect it’s almost impossible to manage given number of kids in a class

Agree a short 1-1 would boost morale.

Please dear Lord not timetabled live lessons all day. We need flexibility to take care of their stresses. Plus zoom all day is brain frying!

Also for all of it, rule of thumb should be 'assume parents are working and the children are having to do this fairly independently', and deliver it in a way that makes this possible. I can provide support to DD in accessing the content and downloading/ uploading etc. But not in actually delivering it and checking she's understood.

I've been happy with the provision both times. However last time the attitude was very much 'keeping everyone happy and safe is most important, school work comes second'. However this time they are pushing that all DC need to complete all the work set everyday. After 2 days we are already behind so finding it very stressful.

My seven year old really enjoyed the zoom call with her class and class teacher today. So did my ten year old.
I really notice the difference in their enthusiasm for home schooling between now and the first lockdown. The novelty has worn off and both really would rather be at school. So seeing their classmates and their teacher really lifted their spirits and they are looking forward to their next zooms.

Oh an no Zoom etc live sessions as they just overwhelm my 8yr old and reduce her to tears that's if I can get my ancient notebook to run it properly. Luckily her school aren't doing them. The experience she had with it was with Brownies. I don't blame her I can't stand Zoom/Teams meetings myself.

Things that worked first time (y2 & y4)
Good to go resources
Weekly voluntary zoom quiz
Have a consistent time of sending the work so children can maintain a routine
Interactive resources (we resorted to bitesize because the problems below made the situation unworkable while managing two reluctant learners)

What did not work well was being sent a photo of the teachers laptop screen so no hyperlinks work and was basically the style of plan that you would leave for a cover teacher
Photos of the fancy maths workbook which languished in the child's drawer unused for the rest of the year, and unprintable due to the amount of greying. Why was it not sent home?
Having to waste the first hour of each day resourcing the skimpy lesson plan to make it usable for a child with SENs, well any child!
No attempt at differentiation

I think check-ins/ clinics are sensible.
I'm not against video lessons on principle but my DCs hate remote communication (one due to ASD) I am concerned about attendance threats relating to this, particularly when I have warned the school and

and an application to go into school because of his SENs has been ignored. He hasn't got an EHCP because being diagnosed at the end of 2019 the system hasn't functioned in order to process it.

You can't get everything right for everyone all the time, but the more variety and flexibility there is, the better the chance of getting something right for everyone.
The more pupils can do independently, the better.

I would like to be left to it and trusted to do what’s in my children’s interests.

I have one primary school who do that and I email them what we’ve done weekly.

The other primary school are asking for twice daily live meetings and four tasks each day, so expecting me to have four children working on different curricula. It’s driven me to the point of a breakdown today.

I need to be able to do projects that I can differentiate but have them working on the same theme. And I’m capable of looking at the curriculum. It would be helpful to see the teacher’s planning so I can make sure they meet the same learning objectives.

For me, please make the daily check in weekly! I have four dc. 30 mins a day equals two hours of our time in which we can’t do anything else and are tiptoeing around and others are waiting for laptop.

The trouble is that what parents (and children) want is so different. I have two primary DC. What I genuinely want from the school is to be left alone. Honestly I would like the school to focus on pastoral care, encourage exercise and reading and ignore everything else. I’d rather no work was set and that they said just do what suits. I certainly don’t care whether work is marked or not. We would use Bitesize / the CBBC programming.

On the other hand you have parents who want full days online teaching. You can’t win.

I think your lists so far are a good compromise. I especially like a PP’s idea of making it clear what is essential and what is nice to do. Please, please some explanation of maths for parents if it is to be forced on us. I had to buy a maths textbook and still don’t understand it.

For the love of God, no ‘fun’ craft projects and yes, please set things that can be done independently.

I prefer things that need to be submitted as it motivates the child to actually try! As soon as something is described as optional it can be very hard to get a child to do it!

Also make sure parents realise that their child might complete the work at home in super fast time, whereas in school with lots of distractions/groupwork etc a task might take a whole morning. The same or similar amount of learning is happening so relax and don't expect a full school timetable!

I second no "fun" arts and crafts projects. No mindfulness. No group meditation. No to sending long lists of "tips how to spend this fantastic time in the bestest way possible and appreciate every minute of it". No "healthy lockdown meal plans". It just looks fake, sorry but it does.

Actually, I personally would appreciate no contact at all. It is difficult as is without teachers harassing about attendance and turning in work.

As soon as something is described as optional it can be very hard to get a child to do it!

This!!

For the love of God, no ‘fun’ craft projects

And this!! Also no bloody baking please, we’ve done plenty

I have a Year 10 at a special secondary and I would like to see 4 1/2 hours online learning everyday. His normal timetable. He will have GCSE, BTEC and Functional Skills became in 2022. The reality is 1 1/2 hours each day. Only 45 mins Science a week. Teachers are not teaching at all after 11.30am each day and he is a vulnerable child with a HCP and a SW but not allowed to go to school.

I wish we had:
*Live registration every day.
*At least one attempted live lesson a day either in maths or English
*Either Google classroom/Microsoft Teams infrastructure.
*Work set daily, and some mechanism for children to send work back to the teacher to be marked
*Worksheets, either paper or online
*Teacher feedback on child's work.
*Some form of timetable
*Some acceptable way for students to actually communicate with their teacher. An email address for her, or the means within Google classroom etc to actually have any contact

At the moment he has none of the above.

He is year 6 and I'm now worried. His school does not seem to be providing even a fraction of what others are, and they seem to be saying at best he'll get one pre-recorded video from the teacher a week and one class zoom session a week, no work to be returned, no structure, no feedback, no live teaching, no registration, no contact with school at all other than the single weekly zoom call.

He has only a single side of A4 telling him that for the week he is to complete some maths questions in a book (which will not be returned or marked) some spellings to learn, and a YouTube video to watch and then write about. No-one will see what he writes, because he isn't expected to return any work. We don't have an email address, phone number or way of contacting his teacher directly, other than through the school secretary or headteacher.

On top of this our internet is 5mbps and currently being shared between two adults (the breadwinner working from home) and two children.