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School only providing 1 hour of live interaction a day!

584 replies

NotLookingTooGood · 07/01/2021 10:25

What is everyone's school experience? I am going a little crazy. We have live online learning of 2 increments of 30mns (maths & english) a day + homework that we have to supervise.

What is everybody else's experience?
The school is relying entirely on us to do the work.

OP posts:
Iamsodonewith2020 · 07/01/2021 11:34

Nothing live but a full day of PowerPoint lessons

Delatron · 07/01/2021 11:36

So what is 4 hours of online ‘teaching’?
Setting worksheets for the day and leaving them to get on with it?

Doozy1991 · 07/01/2021 11:38

Log on every day to see timetable.
A teacher is online on Microsoft teams from 8:45 until 3:05
Work gets set and they can go back onto live to talk to teacher if they need help or it's a scheduled live lesson, their day is set out the same as a normal school day.
2 classes combined is 50 children homeschooling and 10 in class with 2 teachers and 2 assistants.
Works really well.
Primary school

BernardsarenotalwaysSaints · 07/01/2021 11:38

From 30min-1.5 hours in Google classroom a day (4 dc, Y1, Y3, Y5 & Y6), I'm happy with that, it's appropriate to their ages & attention spans. They're given tasks complete over the course of the day as well that they can then upload to the classroom ready for the next day. They're doing their usual 20-30 min reading & 15 min TTRS each day too (just 10 min reading for my y1). I'm happy with the amount they're doing.

NeonBella · 07/01/2021 11:38

No live learning just tasks set on seesaw that are uploaded and then 'marked' and commented on.
Stuff is marked relatively quickly and we can contact the teacher through the note function.
Year 5.

noblegiraffe · 07/01/2021 11:40

Setting worksheets for the day and leaving them to get on with it?

No, it should also include links to explanations for the worksheets, including recorded content, which can be recorded by the school or can be e.g. Oak Academy. The government funded Oak Academy for exactly this, so people thinking they can complain to Ofsted when schools use it might be disappointed.

There should be regular feedback on work.

Talcott2007 · 07/01/2021 11:40

DD only started reception in Sept - so this is our 1st lockdown home learning experience. All via Teams. Some worksheets to complete - 3 'assignments' related to reading, maths and writing need to be uploaded by Friday of each week so they can be done in any order and a pace that suits (we have been uploading as we go and had feedback pretty much straight away each time) Teachers commit to feedback on each of these core assignments as a minimum - Additional optional 'challenge' activities that teachers don't guarantee feedback on if submitted are suggested to extend learning (although we have had feedback on these too as it happens) There are some pre-recoreded videos to support some of the worksheets and challenges. Teacher is also doing a daily pre-recored hello video where she sings the 'wake up song' and reads a story etc. We have a weekly 10min live class catch up with the teacher (class of 30 is split into 3 groups of 10) plus promise of an addional 10min 121 video chat again hopefully on a weekly basis - not had either of these yet so not sure how successful they will be. There is also a sort of messenger system in teams that teacher has been pretty active on replying to messages. Teacher is also still actually in school face to face with the key worker children so all in all I think they are doing a good job and everyone is making the best of the situation.

Hurtandupset2 · 07/01/2021 11:43

Ours are doing live lessons (2ndary), but haven't been taught any new material since lockdown originally started in March because the school said it was impossible to do remotely and wouldn't benefit the children.

There are a high number of disruptive children in her year, unfortunately, so a lot of the teacher's time is been spent trying to control them and getting them to pay attention, which means the kids that get on with things are just left to their own devices, and that was the case pre covid too.

They've only allowed live lessons since November as before that they said it was a safe guarding issue.
Previously to mid November, 1 task per day was set via the school platform and they had to complete this alone and it was taking over a week for teachers to get back to her with any queries/help she needed, which rendered it pretty pointless. They've also changed to a different exam board in some subjects, which hasn't helped things, as it means some topics they've already revised now aren't needed because they're not included.

My dd is in yr11 so she's really suffering with things and is so stressed that she won't do as well in her mocks, etc.

Her target grades are all 9s and she is achieving mostly 7s, with one 6 and two 8s atm, which they call her current grades.
They have since added a predicted grade to this term's report, which has never been there before and these are generally 1 above what her current grade is for each subject.
She is really worried that all these issues will affect what she is able to do at 6th form and what subjects she will be able to take.

After going through things with a tutor it turns out that she is missing big chunks of the curriculum, which although we knew it was still shocking. Eg, in physics they've only covered 15% of the content.

We tried to talk to the school about it as we were worried, especially when they cancelled the Triple Science GSCE she was doing and put all those students into the Combined Science GSCE class as they admitted they hadn't taught them enough of the curriculum to do well, but they really took offence and although our dd has always had the top mark for attitude to work, etc, and even a day before was receiving merits for behaviour/attitude, etc, she is suddenly being given the bottom marks, which basically says she doesn't engage at all, is disruptive constantly, doesn't hand in any work, etc, which is so far from the truth it's laughable.

Doing this change with the science hasn't helped as they've been learning things in a different order and the teacher has said she won't be going over any topics that the Triple Science class have missed that the Combined class have already done as they don't have time.

We've been lucky enough to be able to afford a tutor 3x a week since the 19th Dec break, but that's costing us £80/pw and isn't sustainable indefinitely.

I don't really know what would be for the best, tbh, but this situation sucks big time for our children. Especially those in exam years. It is so unfair that the quality of the online provision varies so much, but you could say that about any school pre covid, as teaching quality between schools has always been variable.

saffire · 07/01/2021 11:43

None. Primary.
Sent reams and reams of stuff to print out and the children are expected to do 5 hours a day. Not happening! In class they would not be expected to do one task for an hour at a time. Why expect them to at home?

Dagnabit · 07/01/2021 11:43

My yr4 ds has 4 tasks set daily on Seesaw - maths, English, guided reading and another subject - that reflects what they normally do on that given day at school. I also ask him to do more reading and some exercise. My yr7 dd has her normal lessons set on MS Teams. No live lessons but my son is having a zoom assembly tomorrow. It’s working ok for us but they are able to work independently - I imagine it is a lot more challenging with younger ones!

zaphodbeeble · 07/01/2021 11:43

I’m secondary. Live is fine if every child has access to a device, in reality many are sharing with siblings. I pre-record mine with audio and add them to our system (firefly), I am available on google meet to explain the lesson and stay online for the lesson duration in case there are any Q’s. The pupils have a choice then, join the google meet or access the firefly version when they can.

CrispySock · 07/01/2021 11:44

My DD7 has no live lessons and I’m thankful! We try and get the work done that is set on Google Classroom done when we can, fitting around toddler/housework/dog walking. She would not be present for live lessons if they were doing them - we have one computer between us and a chaotic household, it just wouldn’t work.

ShouldIgonow · 07/01/2021 11:45

Our school state primary - 3 x 20-30 mins lessons year 1 and 4. Maths English (and then what their afternoon subject would be). Supported with PDFs and PowerPoints with full explanations. They’re using Teams and Class Dojo.

The kids in school are on the same calls doing the same work.

ichundich · 07/01/2021 11:46

@noblegiraffe How do you know that our school is 'meeting the guidelines'? Have you actually seen what is being provided for my children? If Oak Academy and Bitesize are such a good substitutes for real teaching, why don't we just get rid of physical schools and all those teachers in them; it would save a lot of money.

caringcarer · 07/01/2021 11:46

@overthersinbow88 that sounds very sensible. I would be very happy with that but many schools are providing nowhere near to that level of teaching. I am early retired secondary teacher so am teaching my child Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Maths myself as his school will be unlikely to teach more than 2 45 Min lessons each day, that is what they said in email they would be doing and setting an independent task homework for 45 mins. I am also sending Science worksheets and YouTube links and pages copied from GCSE worksheet to my nephew who has had nothing at all so far.

Hurtandupset2 · 07/01/2021 11:46

Not all are live, actually. It depends if the teacher is available. Some other lessons are pre recorded, and some are worksheets/tasks set to complete alone.
Registration is the only consistently daily live time, which consists of a 20-30 minute form time with their class teacher.

BernardsarenotalwaysSaints · 07/01/2021 11:47

That sounds really good Talcott! Is your DD enjoying still having some of the routine? My Y1 is liking still being able to see his teacher. He's also enjoying sitting at the table (on whichever device is free) with his Dad's gaming headphones & pretending he's a pilot Grin It's really tough on Reception & KS1 children so I think anything that brings them happiness in all of this can only be a good thing!

Xerochrysum · 07/01/2021 11:47

I'd rather they don't do the live lesson. My dc's school's remote learning has been great in first lockdown. Seems great again. They have,'t done the live lesson yet(they say they will), but my dc is getting real support from teachers through online platform, questions answered straight away, etc.

Perfect28 · 07/01/2021 11:48

@herethereandeverywhere are you for real?

perhapstomorrow · 07/01/2021 11:49

Ds year 6 is getting a live session from 9 until 12.30 with a couple of breaks. Been very impressed so far. Year 9 and 11 secondary is a bit more sporadic. All work set online but between them they have had 4 live sessions over the last 2 days.

Hurtandupset2 · 07/01/2021 11:50

On clarification, they have a few live lessons a week depending on teacher availability, with the live form time every morning, but most actual lessons are a mix of pre recorded and worksheets/tasks.

caringcarer · 07/01/2021 11:52

@cristyepping sounds like your children are very lucky. The fact that many teachers are providing good teaching through lock down just shows it can be done. Most teachers are doing their best but there are a few who seem to be using Covid as excuse to do very little.

noblegiraffe · 07/01/2021 11:52

If Oak Academy and Bitesize are such a good substitutes for real teaching

Obviously they’re not as good as being in the classroom with a qualified teacher but that isn’t an option right now.

The evidence isn’t there that live teaching is superior to asynchronous teaching using pre-recorded, especially given that a lot of pupils will not be able to access live teaching according to the timetable but can access recorded lessons at their own convenience.

Barracker · 07/01/2021 11:53

Zero live interaction so far.
No daily tasks.
No timetable.
No registration.
No pre recorded videos yet.
No direct contact with teacher at all. Any contact is fielded via school secretary.
No virtual classroom (Teams, Google classroom etc)
No worksheets.
No method of returning work.

We have a maths practice textbook (no answers provided, no feedback or marking offered)
A weekly online curriculum summary sheet of what would have been taught in maths and English and other subjects in school.

Y6.

Deliaskis · 07/01/2021 11:55

I do honestly really hate how this argument always has to be so polarised. I love DD's school, they were amazing last term, her teachers are amazing in school. We were lucky to have no confirmed cases/bubble closures but the staff did an amazing job under difficult circumstances, and I thanked them for that. It was outstanding. So I don't think it's a bad school and I don't want to move DD to another school.

It is possible though, to be amazing at one thing and woeful at another, and schools should expect to be challenged on that. And saying that one school is doing badly does not reflect on the efforts of schools and teachers generally. The 4 other primaries in our small town were online yesterday delivering a mix of content using some Teams, some videos, some links to other materials and some independent learning/worksheets etc. It's surely reasonable to say they are doing a lot better than DD's school? I'm not criticising all schools and all teachers, I'm criticising the ones who are not doing well at this. It's surely reasonable to expect more? To expect some interaction with school? To expect some structure? And to expect provision to be in line with the guidance (which says it's fine to include existing/external resources like Oak and Bitesize, but it doesn't say it's fine to send links to these and offer no interaction with actual teachers at all)?

To the schools and teachers who are doing well at this.....I salute you. It must be an incredibly difficult balance, but from what I read here, many of you are doing an amazing job.

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