Why do my children not deserve an education?

[noitsachicken]

Just because we are not key workers?
My children don’t qualify for a school place, that means they won’t be educated in a classroom, by a teacher, with their peers, they won’t have time to socialise with their friends or play in a group.
They will be sat around the kitchen table, sharing a space with siblings of different ages, all with different needs, with a non-teacher parent trying to do the best they can.
Last lockdown school provision was ‘childcare’ the curriculum was suspended and there was no expectation. That is not the case this time, children who are not allowed in school are at a huge disadvantage.
I realise we are ‘lucky’ compared to others, we have access to technology and I can be home with the children, but I worry for my children, for their mental health and their education.
Why do they not deserve an education and others are prioritised for an education based on their parents job?
How long will those of us with children who are not allowed in school accept this?
I understand the reasons for closing schools, but children are not being treated fairly, if childcare is needed for those with critical jobs then it should be no more than that.

@FourTeaFallOut

Honestly, this

They will be sat around the kitchen table, sharing a space with siblings of different ages, all with different needs, with a non-teacher parent trying to do the best they can

sounds like the gold standard experience in this situation. They have a present and available parent, the company of siblings and a safe environment.

Yep. And in your case, be grateful that you're a) not out in the world being a key worker at risk, b) not having to work from home as well as supervise your kids' learning and c) that your kids are not bringing Covid home to you from school.

IMO you're one of the lucky ones.

I totally agree OP. Like you, our schools are both running a totally normal timetable for those in a school with their normal teacher. Those at home are getting endless worksheets, links to third party websites and constant extra emails suggesting a range of wonderful DT and science experiments etc. No actual teaching at all.

It's a two tier system and I'm furious. Yes I know there is a pandemic, yes I know some children need to be I'm school. But to neglect the needs of the ones at home as our schools are is unforgiveable.

Oh boo hoo, it’s not fair on me.

@Doublefaced
Stupidest post I've seen here in a long time. Apart from the dozens of other whingers who’ve posted exactly the same thing over the past week

^ exactly this!

@noitsachicken You say you want parity but then infer you want keyworkers to just get childcare.

You are better Ng ridiculous! My kids are in school but are not in classrooms being taught by teachers, they are in the hall doing arts and crafts with a couple of TAs, and I don't care because I need the child care.

My kids are not better off than your kids simply because they are in school. If I want them to do education I have to do it at home, just like everyone else.

Thistlefinger..... and Gav encouraged parents to complain to Ofsted if they were unhappy with school provision...

And lo, Ofsted has been overwhelmed by parental messages of how fantastic their schools are doing.

Quit whinging. We’re all in this, not just you

I am working in the keyworker classroom. We have around 20 children of all different ages supervised by non-teaching support staff. Every child at home is accessing exactly the same education as those in school - the specialist teachers are live teaching via Teams, following the normal school timetable for each class (full school day). So in our classroom some children will be doing geography, while others are doing maths and others are doing PE etc etc.

Those of us supervising are there to help when Teams freezes or a child can't find the document they need etc. We are not teaching them. If they have a question about the work, they ask the teacher by using the 'raise your hand' feature and then speaking. We do help with things like 'how do you spell...?' or if someone is stuck, we might give them an idea to get them going again - 'have you thought about...?' but if they can't do the actual work, the teachers need to help.

Sometimes a child will speak to a teacher during breaks or lunchtime for further help, but this is available to all children, wherever they are. Not just those in school.

Children are likely to be back school after Easter if all goes well. That means they will have missed from April 2020 to July 2020 and from Jan 2021 to Easter 2021.

Two terms in fact. There are 42 terms between YR and Y13. It's hardly a disaster given the global crisis.

@Land0r exactly the same for me (currently using AL). It's exhausting for me can't imagine how the teachers cope.

You are being ridiculous!!! All children deserve an education and no one is saying they don't!
This isn't a situation unique to the UK, its a worldwide issue.
I'm fed up of people like you moaning. I want my severely disabled son and year 11 daughter back in school too but I accept it has to be this way right now. People are dying........ life comes first.

@Bumpsadaisie well said

Oh for god sake, we are on in the midst of a pandemic.
Everyone is having to make sacrifices including your bloody children.
Stop with the self entitlement

@17bluebirds
There's no ideal solution here, is there? We're each and every one of us, trying to adapt to this increasingly bad situation, the best we can. We all know that it's hard, but we just have to get on with it.

I've got 2 DC at home (11 and (14) and I'm fortunate that they are resilient and have mostly adequate tech. But there are times when they need me.

I've recorded voiceovers for all my lessons posted this week but have been emailed by 2 parents yesterday, complaining that I wasn't delivering'live' lessons. It's forcing my hand to go into school next week where I'm able to be live online. It's a real concern as I also care for 92 year old Mum who lives with us.

But we just plough on through, because we simply have to. I want my DC to build their resilience by taking their cue from me.

@Bumpsadaisie

Children are likely to be back school after Easter if all goes well. That means they will have missed from April 2020 to July 2020 and from Jan 2021 to Easter 2021.

Two terms in fact. There are 42 terms between YR and Y13. It's hardly a disaster given the global crisis.

So we’re ignoring the work they also missed between March and July last year?

@MrsMiaWallis without going into it too much I am on the phone all day discussing very sensitive info with usually irate people, swearing, screaming, talking about abuse, child abuse, etc. And I have to work core hours so can't do it in the evenings etc.

We are teaching a full timetable at my school, as are my DC's school.

I'm not going to do a half-arsed job to keep things 'fair'. Some parents are doing an amazing job at home, maybe we should tell them to tone it down a bit too?

Some of the children I teach are so vulnerable and disadvantaged anyway, life and education has never been fair.

But yes, it is rubbish. I do feel very guilty and can't wait for the time when all the children can safely return.

Sorry I quoted the wrong post 🙄

Honestly I despair.

Kids don’t have to do the school work set- most teachers would be delighted if kids just did daily reading, some spelling and handwriting practice and some basic maths stuff. Do your kids know their times tables well? If not then work on them. If you’ve time then cook with them and watch birds in the garden and make a chart to note which birds you see etc and let your kids enjoy learning in a child- centred way.
If you’re working and don’t have the time then let your children learn independence and focus on allowing them child- led learning- let them choose a book to read and write about, stick on the bbc programmes such as dengineers, operation ouch, blue planet. Task them to make up a personal project- if they’re little it can be pictures and misspelt words. If older it could be a power point or a book.
Set timers around the house for exercise. For screen time. Have snacks accessible. Let them play online all day when they need to.

They will be fine.

The kids whose parents aren’t on MN and don’t have access to the internet or who are actually living in poverty etc are the ones this really isn’t fair on. Not any of the kids here.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow we're not all in this together though are we. Kw children at my school are getting a 100% normal education, the majority at home get scraps. All other schools locally seem to have no problem providing more of a balance between those at home and those in school by using live feeds in class, pre recorded videos, or feedback on work. Our schools are making no effort to do so and I am angry. It is justified and I make no apology for it.

All children deserve an education. Most children are getting some education. This is unfortunate and there will be huge gaps. The most important thing you can do with your children is either read with them or get them to read. They really need to maintain or improve their literacy levels. They also need to be kept in some sort of routine and taught respect and good manners. If you can do this for your children, they will catch up. We are in the idle of a global crisis, with disease and death increasing. We have to adapt.

*Middle, not idle, sorry!

Not that I think it’s a competition BUT in my opinion the children benefiting the most are probably the ones with parents able (time and ability wise) to give the time to supporting them 1:1 at home with school work.
I got a glimpse in the first lockdown of how beneficial it was to my kids having 1:1 attention to try and understand and practice a concept. Unfortunately j didn’t have much time to do that due to work.
This time round they have a keyworker place which I’m grateful for but working through the same work as the home kids but without 1:1 input, is not the same. But I see they are better off in some ways than kids whose parents have to get on with work and can’t give much input.

But as I said, not a competition, we’ve all just got to do what we can do and get through it

I get that you are annoyed OP, but I hope you aren't letting your melodramatics rub off on your children. It's not about anyone 'deserving' anything, we are in the middle of an extraordinary situation, and harsh as it sounds you just need to get on with things and not compare your children's experience of the pandemic to anyone else's. Other countries in Europe are also experiencing school closures, so try and see the bigger picture if you are able.

wonderup You're right, it is exhausting!

We had a similar set-up last time (but fewer keyworker children were in school then) and it worked very well. This time we have all subjects being taught live, whereas last time some of the teachers were furloughed so there were no live lessons for things like French, music, dance, art etc. The children had work set and pre-recorded videos of the teachers explaining the topic/task, so they could still access those subjects.