Secondary school closure not a disaster

[Rowenasemolina]

In among all the doom laden unhappy threads, I just want to put the other side.

Some children prefer home learning , and do better

No teacher time is being wasted on bad behaviour, so the whole lesson is about the lesson.

Given that 25-50% of learning time in schools is wasted For the average child for the average week, there are positives to the current set up

And the school meals sent home are no worse than the school meals served on site. Maybe now the electorate will wake up to the absolute con of s a school meal system which takes millions of pounds and spends almost all of it on wages rather than food. School meals should be got rid of altogether

As a tutor, I would say around a quarter of my students say they prefer being in school, a quarter day they prefer being at home, and half vary in their feelings from day to day.

They certainly have less interruptions to their learning from badly behaved students at home though.

Not surprising, it is the parents of the badly behaved students that are Complaining most in our schools, and pushing hardest to get them back In

Do you see the children living in cramped conditions with no where appropriate to work or those who are sharing one device with their 3 siblings?

Education is often designed to target those with the least in their lives. So some of it may seem pointless to those who already have a rich home life. That doesn't mean those children don't benefit from the experiences offered, but their gain are much more marginal.

" it is the parents of the badly behaved students that are Complaining most in our schools, and pushing hardest to get them back In"

So you're saying that people who hate the current situation and find our kids are struggling to stay engaged with learning we're bad parents, right? Our badly behaved offspring are proof this. Whereas all the Naice Parents of Naice Children are tripping around with lovely motherly joy at the prospect of having their sweet angels at home more of the time right?

My two feel like they are learning the minimum & getting by rather than fulfilling their potential and learning the skills they need to go on to higher education & work.

@reefedsail

I think one positive of this would be if regional or local state-maintained online schools were established for pupils who actually prefer it and can learn better that way.

I think that would be great

Not surprising, it is the parents of the badly behaved students that are Complaining most in our schools, and pushing hardest to get them back In

I would have loved it, would have struggled massively though heading into the workplace if I hadn't had to flex my social skills (natural introvert).

@RedskyBynight

Children who enjoy home learning have always had the ability to do that.

My DC are missing the social interaction of school and the ability to do things that are much harder in a home environment e.g. access to science labs, DT labs, specialist art and drama areas.

I have one child that is just not learning as effectively from reading/watching videos. I'm spending a considerable amount of time going over things he hasn't got. I want him to to go back to school so he can have effective teaching, not because he's badly behaved(he isn't).

Also, has it occurred to you that the children you see as a tutor are not representative of the whole school population by the very nature of how you know them?

As in, a tutor in a large secondary school.

Ds isn’t academic. He struggles to learn without that practical, face to face interaction. He wants to study music at university. He is incredibly lucky in that we have turned a spare bedroom into a music studio but he still isn’t getting the skills and improvements he got in college.

Dd is academic and enjoys learning. She’s year 8 and loves homeschool because there’s no one being disruptive in the class and she doesn’t have to deal with peer pressure/can choose who she speaks to. She’s an introvert and I’ve been worrying how she’ll cope going back. This thread reassures me a little that it’s not just her!

My child had a spring in their step after being back at school after lockdown 1.

That's a well behaved kid who claimed not to be bothered by being off. I noticed a difference.

I think when you separate out problems caused by lockdown rather than remote/home learning it is useful to evaluate and compare how we were doing things to what we're doing now, and whether there were previously accepted practices that could or should be changed etc.

@m0therofdragons

Dd is academic and enjoys learning. She’s year 8 and loves homeschool because there’s no one being disruptive in the class and she doesn’t have to deal with peer pressure/can choose who she speaks to. She’s an introvert and I’ve been worrying how she’ll cope going back. This thread reassures me a little that it’s not just her!

My dd is similar. She studied one A level independently and got A*. But she can’t progress in her dance diploma properly online.

Comefromaway really? That’s awful. No school should have been allowing children to move from room to room unnecessarily between September and December. Did you report them? It’s that sort of thing that’s caused this peak

I'm concerned about the lack of exercise and narrowing of all our world's down to these four walls.

As far as academics go yes it's a lot quicker than school.

My daughter is doing well - year 12, great work ethic, a room that's neither communal nor the bedroom she can work in, decent internet (for the countryside), food, heat, plenty of technology, parents who can support her, older graduate siblings who took the same A levels, fabulously resourced school.

She's lucky and she knows it. This is so not the picture for so many. Children trying to study for exams on an old phone, children without enough heat, children babysitting or teaching younger siblings so parents can keep their jobs. Children with mental health issues or who are carers. That's just the tip of it.

I'm pleased my daughter is doing well right now (it might change, who knows?) but there are so many young people this is a nightmare for.

I work for an online school and as you can imagine our numbers are booming.
Lots of students enjoy lack of bad behaviour/bullying/peer pressure.

I would have loved online school!

I agree, we are in Dublin. 4 kids at second level. They have missed less classes than if they were in school ! Amazing.
I mailed their schools last week to commend the teachers .

My DS15 has ASD and is certainly learning more. But his academic progress is the least important reason for him being in school.

I think I see if this can be used for school refuses ?

My kids are finding it harder and prefer face to face. They like sitting with their peers while they work

I guess the most important question is what happens when a child doesn't log in? Are they forgotten (out of sight, out of mind) or do the school follow up ? My kids seem to log in and do the work but I have no clue if they are engaging.

First sentence should be refusers not refuses.

@Rowenasemolina

Comefromaway really? That’s awful. No school should have been allowing children to move from room to room unnecessarily between September and December. Did you report them? It’s that sort of thing that’s caused this peak

I fail to see how she could pass a practical dance/musical theatre course without taking dance class.

She’s on zoom at the moment. Not too bad for her as we just spent £700 on a portable dance floor for our garage. But she’s also filming for auditions and worries about the loss of technique.

Some of her friends trying to take dance class or sing in tiny bedrooms are finding it very difficult.

Some of my quietest students love the fact that they can send me a message to ask for help without the rest of the class knowing. I have had more "conversations" with some of them in the last 3 weeks than in the whole of last term.

I also like that I can send them links to videos, website etc to help them with the work.

I also think they are learning some really important transferable skills like time management, attaching documents to emails, using Teams (or whichever platform) in a "professional" way. Sending formal(ish) emails to staff etc. Employers have been saying for years that school leavers are not ready for the workplace but in many ways I think this generation will be.

Its working for DS in Y10 BUT they are a Apple affiliated school, and each child is given an iPad when they join in Y7, so that's a significant hurdle removed. They have a parent app too, where I can see if he's up to date with work, has had a reward or behaviour points etc.

He's also a gamer, so he talks to his schoolfriends on the games they play. He's much happier this time as the lessons are much better organised and he's working to the usual school timetable. I appreciate that its not for everyone, and he's one of the lucky ones. It allows me to WFH with minimal intervention.

@Popfan

Well my DS is impeccably behaved at school but does not do well at home, loses motivation and struggles. The provision from his school is amazing too and can't be faulted. He needs to be actually in school with his teachers to do well and make progress which he did last term. The schools definitely need to be shut at the moment, no question but there are no positives for my lovely son to be at home. None at all.

My DS is similar. Rarely is a problem in class, he was caught reading on his phone once but nothing disruptive. I've been told he is always polite and friendly, normally just gets on with his work. Without regular classes he is easily distracted and lacks motivation. Doing the online work and classes in the school environment under keyworker provision is much better than home, but not as good as actually being taught in class.