Is your dc school being stricter this time round - home learning?

[iwlalo]

I have 3 dc all primary aged. I was notified by the school yesterday that they are to complete 3 hours of learning per day. This is to be emailed to the teachers by 4:30pm.

They are all at different learning levels and I cannot leave them all to get on with it. The eldest needs the least help, but will still need some.

The younger two will need to be guided through most if not all their work.

So that's at least 6 hours of school work a day for the two youngest between them.

Not sure of the consequences of not handing the work in on time.

A bit stricter than last time in the sense that they have to be online on teams for registration at 9.00 and 3.00. If they aren't online they will be marked as absent.

Still no live lessons or plans for work to be marked

Yep, we have had the same kind of letter from our school. A minimum of 3hrs per child. I just have the two but only have one laptop so have to alternate it between them. I'm then expected to work from home, answer calls, be online for meetings. Its a nightmare!!

I dont think they can do anything about it if you cant achieve it. All you can do is try your best.

No. Our feed is full of parents saying they are both trying to hold down full time WFH jobs and they will do what they can. Each reply from the school is that it is a difficult time and just to get through it, and that school are there to support them if they need it. It does take the pressure off.
There is such a divide though between those you know have a SAHP and those who are working in non key worker jobs trying to manage the kids as well. The kids of SAHP are posting elaborate projects etc. It’s depressing! I try not to look!

My kids are younger though so this is probably very different for secondary school.

All you can do is try your best. On Tuesday my primary aged daughter did nothing simply because I was live teaching and we have one laptop. We both can't be on teams at the same .

We are also using one computer for all 3 children. I tried using my phone but the files did not open on them.

Ours is for me mainstream child but I told them we cannot do it. I don't have the IT, I work and I need to homeschool also a child with complex special needs. It means, pretty much no home schooling again. School is not happy but understanding and in the end, if DC doesn't do the work, what is school gonna do? they cannot fire them.

It's really shit for kids who have WFH parents again but we just need to accept that we cannot keep up/compare ourselves to families with a Sahm.

No pressure yet from primary secondary have sent an email to tell us that DS hasn't accessed his emails. We have replied saying he is in school two days a week, that is likely to be as good as it gets.

If you have an xbox at home you can stream any Teams live lessons through there. Mobile phone companies are being supportive re data allowances to allow streaming of education, search for your provider. That all said, its a case of do your best

Thanks for posting this I felt better as my family is all SAHMs comparing notes. Even my own mum is asking what am I doing with the home school knowing full well I work. She can fuck off.

We have had more work set (3 hours worth) and a letter from the head saying how important it is for children to complete all of their work. So I suppose it is stricter.

I'm finding that 3 hours is actually more than 3 hours because I have to check what is supposed to be done, print everything off, check again and make sure I understand it, find or make any extra bits and bobs that we need for the tasks etc. I am furloughed and have only 1 primary age child and I'm finding it difficult to fit in the school work, a daily walk/trip to the park, looking after/entertaining a 2yo and keeping on top of basic housework so I dread to think how hard it must be for parents trying to juggle multiple school age children and/or work as well. The teachers post suggested craft activities and I'm thinking "when are we going to get time for crafts "

I completely agree that education is important, however putting this much pressure on the parents and children cannot be good for anyone.

My youngest is 8 and I went to pick up some worksheets from the school for him yesterday. His teacher was lovely and said to do what we can and that there was no pressure. No online lessons as such but work will be set via Class Dojo once the worksheets run out.

Eldest has just moved to secondary school in September, so I don't know what they were like during first lockdown, but they are really piling the work on and there are Zoom calls and deadlines a-go-go, with rather stern emails urging compliance. DS is in a grammar stream class (we're in NI) and will need DP and me leaning on him constantly if he is to keep up. He is undergoing the process for a (very likely, I'm told) ADHD diagnosis. So this will be fun. Talk about a baptism of fire!

Yep and it worrying me even though I only work part time but with two very reluctant easily distracted children one with SEN and one on diagnosis pathway.

@iwlalo

We are also using one computer for all 3 children. I tried using my phone but the files did not open on them.

Please feed this back to your children's schools. DD's school have given till midnight each day for tasks to be completed due to multiple children in families having limited access to few devices.

My two have to log on for registration at 9am then they have a full timetable for the day which is sent the night before. All work has to be sent back that day. The teacher then emails their response after looking at work and later that night sends the next days work.

Work is a combination of worksheets, video lessons with a couple fun things like pe and music.

However if you haven't logged in or completed work, school is straight on the phone to ask why. Its achievable for me as a sahm but I can see why some parents just can't manage it.

DD12 is supposed to do 4 hours a day but there’s no way we will get her to do that! She did one subject instead of two yesterday as it was already halfway through the day when we received the E Mail from the school. Waiting to hear when the live session with DD’s tutor will happen. We’re not too concerned as year 7 mainly seem to have been recapping with a few new projects & only good things were said last term about DD’s progress. DH is at home & I work part time.

It will be, yes, because Gavin Williamson has announced that schools must provide 3-5 hours home learning with some live video lessons. And parents can report to ofsted if schools aren't doing that every day.

As a SAHP let me assure you there is no such elaborate projects going on in this house by any stretch of the imagination.
I'm just doing my best to get through the day with some sanity still in tact for all of us.

We have registration at 9am. Then they go through what needs to be done (20 mins).
Then it’s at least 3/4 hours of worksheets and links to videos (not teachers). All to be submitted that day. Feedback is provided.

It’s not much fun for him sat doing worksheets all day. I’d prefer some live lessons.

DS1 in secondary school (private) has a full timetable of live lessons and after school activities and is loving it and is fully engaged.

Tech must be tricky for many people. I am working on Zoom, husband on Teams, kids on Google classroom..

Although I would also say schools can't win.

Full day (5½ hours) of live lessons here (y7 & y9), following normal timetable. I have one in school and one at home. Both doing exactly the same. School is just supervised online learning.

DD1 (y10) has a learning pack from her special school.

State school parents complained about private school kids having Zoom lessons all day in Lockdown 1.0 which is why state schools are required to set more work this time. 3 hours for primary school kids is what has been suggested this time.

It is understandable why you're struggling though.

They are offering a lot more (3x as much?) this time (yr8 now)
They are offering anything this time (yr12 now)

Are any primary schools having lessons via teams/zoom? We’ve just been given the same old worksheet stuff as we were getting last March, it’s so boring!