So it looks like we're being prepared for children not to go back until after Easter

[choosingcrumble]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/children-face-months-at-home-as-schools-stay-shut-until-easter-wp5ltpm82?fbclid=IwAR1l0gRSzuJLIv508reRmBEojbYfoGOsWwe3_pBFmKpA4EbI1IgC5dKC2uE

I suspected it wouldn't be until then, let's just hope that it doesn't stretch into the summer.

[quote Tryingtryingandtrying]@breadwidow You said your DH is at home, is he also working? Are you able to complete unfinished work in the evening etc? You actually can't do two things at once, and I don't know many primary children who can work completely independently. Infact I know a child who ended up in A and E due to parents unable to supervise the children whilst they were WFH.[/quote]
My DH is at home. Runs his own business but has scaled back to do home schooling. I'm doing some of it but less than him. My Work pretty flexible - I have been working late a bit to make but considering taking advantage of current policy where I can reduce hrs with no reduction in pay as DH could do with some of his time back. Only issue is that actual volume of work o deliver may not be able to be reduced so I need to do some negotiating! Most of my colleagues where their partner is working (including a few public sector key worker roles but from home) are largely sharing home schooling and flexing hrs to fit it in (eg a colleague has 2 hrs blocked off in morning and another 2 blocked off in pm for kids, she makes up hrs where needed in evening she's damn efficient so not having to work super late as far as I know). Personally, I'm not overly concerned about managing work and home schooling, it's a pain but just about manageable. I'm more worried about my kids MH and motivation / passion for learning as home schooling doesn't inspire them and the wider impact of closures on society/children in general / vulnerable children (well not full closures but school closed to most). So if the closures drag on for longer because they aren't as effective, due to too many kw kids in school . . . Well it's that that makes me pissed off about people using provision when they are wfh, especially if 2 parents around. My kids headteacher has made it clear we should only use it if no adult at home, think other schools may be 'laxer' ,(as official guidance says any kw parent entitled to place, says nothing about whether they are at home and also you can have one kw parent to get a place - so kid with sahp could go), and if I'm honest I'm not sure what my kids school us doing to check entitlement

MessAllOver It was my bad, that post of mine was as clear as mud

@ihatebikerides think you are right there. My kids school is not providing any additional learning in school - they follow the virtual school set up with TA assistance, teachers are all wfh. KW Kids obv still benefit from seeing peers of course but nothing beyond that. This makes me feel less bad for my kids being at home!

@AriataBrown

Are you coping during this lock down and are your children?

Do you have children?

Why are you so furious?

I hate this whole thing, I really do. I'm FT WFH and full time home schooling 2x Primary aged DC by myself, they're really good kids, but still it's hell.

People keep saying that the government need to put provisions in place to help people in this position. I'm genuinely interested in what 'provisions' they think that the government can make?

What a shame you don’t like baking with your children Kokeshi123. I bet your children enjoy it though

I do all sorts of things with my kids that are enjoyable, actually. I also spent hours, and hours, and hours doing schoolwork with my eldest last year, not only for her sake but to try and support the teachers at the school who would find life easier once schools went back if the kids had stayed on track in the meantime.

I'm not going to apologise for not wanting to cover my entire kitchen with flour, sugar, butter and baking tins with crusted-on mess all over them, at a time when I was already cooking, washing up and clearing up for three meals a day plus snacks, plus all the mess and picking-up and clearing up that has to be done when kids are stuck in the house all day, and was spending so much time washing up and cleaning that my hands were starting to crack and bleed.

Wow, Kokeshi, I admire your restraint with that reply!

I’m totally with you on the baking. I can’t keep up with all the meal making and mess clearing as it is. And after all, as we keep being reminded this is only temporary (it just feels like fucking forever), the baking can be picked up again once things are back to normal. When we have the will to live once again, and some actual energy for extras.

It's worth making the point that not ALL children are having a hellish time right now. There are a number of children who are thriving or doing perfectly well. Of course there are lots of children who are finding it hard, and no-one wants that. It's just a little frustrating to constantly read how this is the worst possible scenario for every single child in the country - it's actually quite insulting.

I don't think schools are helping - not having a dig at individual teachers before I get flamed. I've seen quite a lot of schools trying to recreate a classroom environment in the home, which is always going to be an enormous struggle. Also the insistence of doing non-essential lessons just adds an unnecessary burden. Parents have to work to keep a roof over their DC's head. That means there needs to be a much more flexible attitude to learning. It would have been helpful if authorities/schools could have given teachers directives/help/support about how to set up home learning without trying to have a virtual class of 30 kids at home attempting to mimic a traditional classroom environment. With the technology we have, there are so many ways we could innovate without sticking to traditional classroom-style learning via Zoom. This is just an unworkable disaster for everyone - teachers and parents alike.

For those in the middle of their exam years, agree this is bloody awful and I feel desperately sorry for them. Other DC, especially those in primary, can absolutely catch up. Children have arrived here from wartorn countries aged 9 or 10, not being able to speak the language or do any of the lessons, and they go on to perform remarkably well academically. This isn't necessarily the huge academic disaster that they would have you believe. They will do fine in school.

And the government needs to break its all-or-nothing mentality. Again, they're stuck in a rut. No creative or innovative thinking about how to move forward, introduce socialising or face-to-face learning without chucking all the kids back into the infection pit. Classrooms are small, cramped and the concept of social distancing within them is just a joke. Schools need to be able to revise curriculums temporarily, and government needs interim methods such as alternate weeks/part-time learning - there were suggestions about TAs leading groups in libraries/halls nearby which would otherwise be closed. The government has had all this time to come up with solutions which minimise infection while still allowing children to go into school and they've managed to do precisely fuck all. "Wash your hands and put tissues in the bin" is pretty much it. Slow clap.....

Of course we want children back in school, but not if it causes lots of people to die. If the government put a modicum of thought into it, they could easily create a way of gradually re-opening schools while monitoring infection rates. But they won't. If they had, the kids probably wouldn't be off school now, and we wouldn't be in such a mess.

[quote ihearttc]@ktp100

How about you come and tell my 15 year DS who is in Y11 that then? Best I tell him to pull his socks up and try and teach himself content that he didn’t get taught in Y10 when the curriculum was suspended then.

And best make sure he doesn’t moan about the possibility of having his future prospects destroyed because of the incompetence of our Government. Not being in school is having a huge huge impact on these kids especially ones who are in exam years. I think my cup of jollyness ran out last lockdown and now it’s completely empty. But I’m sure telling him to bake some cakes and go for a walk and play with toys in the garden will do an awful lot for his lack of self esteem and his destroyed mental health. That might work for 6 year olds but not for nearly 16 year olds. So maybe people need to have some empathy and realise that there are many reasons why we wants schools to go back (and I’m a TA as well) and it’s not about us parents having a lack of effort. I can’t teach my son to pass a higher level maths GCSE, I can teach him number bonds but I doubt that will help.[/quote]
@ihearttc

I wasn't suggesting that kids 'pull their socks up', I was suggesting that WE need to stop fucking moaning and do our best to help the kids get through the work as they won't have time to repeat it!!

If you're seriously concerned that your Y11 child is falling behind in any subject you need to email his teachers asap. They should be asking for work submissions so should know where his weaknesses are already and should be able to advise him of how to catch up or implement support/interventions if needed. As a an ex-secondary teacher I'd encourage you to buy GCSE workbooks in subjects he struggles with - they are very descriptive and give working examples. These alongside BBC bitesize usually help, particularly for Science & Maths.

It's really, really shit, hun. I know!! But we can only push through it and help our kids to deal with it because it's not looking like it's going to change awfully soon. It's literally our only option, even if it is a shit option.

@ExhaustedFlamingo I agree with you completely, particularly regarding the lack of creativity.

Industry and businesses have had to adapt but education seems completely unwilling to do so. Yes we've got online learning, of a fashion, but where's the plan to do things differently face to face? It seems in this regard, it's 'old school', or no school, and absolutely no concept that the children could go back in a different way. It really doesn't have to be all or nothing!

Education has adapted hugely. At since point, probability on a Friday evening at 4 pm, we will be rolls that blended learning is go, and you can bet your bottom dollar that our leadership teams will work solidly through till Monday morning and have it up and running.
Don’t bloody blame education for being inflexible.

Some, not since

And told, not rolls. God I hate phones.

Schools are told what to do by the Government. They are given the curriculum by the Government. They are given their funding from the Government. Don’t blame the schools for lack of creativity. Give them more money and I am sure they would come up with creative ideas

@Nellodee I should clarify that I meant the department of education, not the schools/teachers having to deal with the reality of their last minute announcements.

Yikes! I don't mean the schools, I mean the department of education!!

@TokyoSushi - yes exactly!

The solution seems to be to just shove more and more onto teachers without those in power actually stepping back and looking at the education system overall. It hasn't had a proper revamp in decades, not in terms of real creative and innovative approaches. Instead, teachers are being pulled in five different directions, forced to try and ring round and find out the reasons for the absence. It's an enormous missed opportunity.

As evidence, please see the mass testing system for students that was set up in schools on days off over the new year with no support or additional finance that was then scrapped before it was even used.

Sorry Tokyo!

Really sorry for being aggressive there, I actually completely agree with you. Oops!

Sorry, my feed is lagging so I'm constantly a few posts behind! I feel like I belong in a Two Ronnies sketch haha!

Ditto for me. My primary complaint is with the Department for Education, not the schools. The policy makers.

I included the reference to schools because I'm aware there are a few heads/trusts who have been unnecessarily difficult and bloody minded when teachers have been trying to flex and be supportive. In my personal experience, the schools around here have all done their absolute best and been as supportive as they can. Our school was lovely - we've left now for reasons unconnected to COVID.

Until a couple of months ago I was a school governor and I'm acutely aware just how much teachers do behind the scenes and how so many schools go above and beyond.

I think lots of schools are doing an amazing job under very difficult circumstances. That doesn't mean that I don't want the kids to go back as soon as it's safe.

DD is in year 11 and she is very self motivated, so we are doing ok, though it's far from ideal. She really misses her friends. However, I do support the school closures, at least until a way can be found for the kids to return safely.

My main concern is for those kids who don't have the self motivation or quiet space or internet etc to learn from home effectively, and also for those who really need the structure and routine of school to manage their mental health. I really feel for those parents too, who are struggling to work with younger children - it must be very difficult. I don't know what the solution is.

Until a couple of months ago I was a school governor and I'm acutely aware just how much teachers do behind the scenes and how so many schools go above and beyond.

Yep, I'm a school governor, too. Our teachers are on their knees right now. I don't think many of the parents have a clue how much stress they are under.

@Nellodee - what schools have implemented with little notice and poor instructions and support has been nothing short of phenomenal.

I have no doubt they'll be dropped in it again before this is over. We're bloody lucky to have so many dedicated teachers and schools staff in this country.

@AlexaShutUp - Yes, absolutely - it makes me so angry to read about teachers doing nothing - it literally couldn't be further from the truth. The Daily Mail brigade have no concept of what's involved even in everyday school life, the degree of stress and work.

I have autistic DC and when they're older I'd planned to get trained as a TA. Having seen on the inside what working in a school is life, I've changed my mind. No chance. Our school was absolutely amazing and I'm sad that we're no longer there.