Do you think your kids' educational achievement will suffer?

[Echobelly]

I think I'm lucky as my kids aren't in really essential years (start of primary, secondary exams) and both schools are mounting a fairly good provision online, especially the secondary. And TBF, we are a very fortunate household where the kids have space and equipment to learn. Even with DS (Y5) having ADHD, I don't feel as though either of them will underperform academically in the long run because of this.

Emotionally/socially I have more concerns for what they've missed out on, especially with DS having some challenges to managing social skills, and DD missing out on chunks of her first and second year of secondary school - I feel that chould have more of an impact for them than missed learning.

I guess it depends on so many factors: what standards the school has, what provision they've made for out of school learning, how the teachers are coping with this, and following up on work to ensure that the children are actually learning something. Combined with whether the parents are ensuring the children are following the school, work , and that the child has adequate broadband and laptop in order to do so. I'm guessing the gap in attainment between poorer areas and families and the more affluent will only be widened.

Here, our secondary is providing the exact timetabled classes, the teachers have prepared their lessons as normal and are just delivering them online, less interaction but still covering the work, checking they've understood and providing feedback Overall I'm pretty impressed. School day has started half an hour earlier as they have 40 mins tutor time with their tutor group first as a social time with their friends, before attending their classes, I think this is a good idea, they have to be dressed (no pjs) and at the screen for 8.30 which is about the time most would set off to walk/cycle/go to school anyway, and it gives them a good more social time with their mates, quizzes and fun things. They get the same break times as usual, and are encouraged to turn the screens off for that 9rather than message their mates) and go out for a walk. I'm actually in awe of the staff, spoke to a friend said another school not far away they do almost nothing by comparison, a few workbooks are set, very little online classes. Think we are lucky.

FWIW I was brought up in an era when it wasn't unusual to move children up or down a year to suit their ability/level of work they were working at. I was moved up a year in what is now year 3, so only did half a term in year 3 and completed the rest of the year in year 4. As were 3 or 4 others in my class, but we all had a reading age perhaps double our actual age, which wasn't a surprise (no TV) as we read a lot. Can't say it made an iota of difference in the longer term other than being bullied a little for being the youngest when at secondary, so I'd imagine there would likely be a lot less of an impact on pupils at primary than at secondary provided they have the appropriate support at home, it's where they don't that'll be the problem. Children that don't have books, or a laptop, or parents that don't see a value in supporting their child to read or to learn tables.

@blobbyface

Yes. Years 10 & 12. Year 10 is doing ok, but she hates school anyway as can't cope with social side. Year 12 is a mess. After 6 months out of school and then a disjointed autumn term, she has lost all confidence and has practically given up. She used to be a hard working, happy girl, but is now scared to open up Teams and full of anxiety. School is helping as much as it can, but she's just needs to be in there. I'm not sure she'll be able to go in to year 13. It's heartbreaking.

Sorry to hear that. Is there not more flexibility @Echobelly I worry about my year 10. Year 9 was crap year at school.

Year 6 academically think she's fine but worry about seniors and year 7 as none existing freinds going there.
Shes improved self motivation for learning from year 5 1st lockdown.

Year 5 sen I'm finding really tricky
He tries hard for teacher and ta on teams.
At home less so. He also need social interaction.

Toddler nearly 3 she desperately needs company and freinds her own age.
She misses baby ballet.
Her speech is amazing sadly she's picked up some vocabulary and attitude from the older 3 being at home so much.
She will only get 1 year preschool funding then reception next Sept.

My eldest is in year 13 doing 3 A levels. He also has ASD and anxiety and is massively struggling with all aspects of remote learning and his MH has declined to the point he is on a low dose of antidepressants which breaks my heart.
His university offers are starting to come through and thankfully he’s staying in our city but we have 3 universities and he’s not able to visit. It’s bloody tough for him right now. He’s also missing his lovely group of friends but they have been doing weekly zoom quizzes by taking it in turn to host. He has loved that.
He’s absolutely petrified of covid and has developed a slight obsession with it.

Youngest is dd in year 5. She is extremely bright and extremely lazy. She’s not engaging very well with remote learning. At school she wouldn’t dream of not engaging but at home we have lost our routine and there are “too many distractions” according to her.

I’m worried for her in a different way. She is in regular contact with her friends but really misses dancing, swimming and play dates. She is desperate to go back to school to see her friends and her being home so much over the last year has confirmed my suspicions that she also has ADHD like me. I was only diagnosed last year aged 42.

Sorry that was way longer than intended.

@WinstonmissesXmas
I am worried about when they go back and other children not having done as much at home, meaning the standard falls for the class and expectations as a whole.

I agree with your statement but also add that this will be even more of a problem where the homeschool provision is poor to start with so even parents trying their best are struggling.

The privileged will be absolutely fine, the under privileged will pay the price - as is always the way. And no one will care, especially not the haves.

I'm in Italy, and DD is 17. They've had live online lessons for almost a year now and haven't missed anything academically.

This hasn't been the same in our middle and elementary schools though, and nor has it been the same from school to school. I think here, at least, the worries are more about the younger ones. I teach in a secondary, and this year's first years seem very very young compared to previous years. It's hard to put your finger on, it's not so much academic (at least for my subject- though I've heard that maths and science marks on intake are down) as behavioural.

Thankfully our schools are opening again now, I went back last week.

School is about so much more than academic results. The ones that worry me (and I see it on here a lot) are the kids who don't want to go back, who have enjoyed being in lockdown. That's a big fat alarm bell for any parent or teacher.

Yr6 & Yr4 here.
Yr6 is desperately missing school & friends but is continuing to do well academically. She was tutored last year for the 11+ so has covered all of this year's math syllabus already and that really brought her comprehension and other skills. Also, in Yr6, post SATs is usually fun stuff much of which won't be able to happen unless we've completely gone back to normal so they'll have some catch up time then.
Yr4 is a different kettle of fish. I hate stereotypes but he is a summer born boy and lives up to that stereotype and has some SEN thrown in too. Things began to finally click with both reading & times tables last term but then he ended up having to self-isolate for 2x two weeks due to idiots in his year group who broke rules and tested positive and then hasn't been back this term. I think that this year could have been transformational for him but, without the support and pressure he needs, it won't be and, if anything, he'll go the other way.

Every family is different. Academically mine are already behind. They go to a prep school and had reading books and 30 mins home work every night. Now reading books are not allowed home and no homework. So in far as there profession - yes. Mentally they are doing fine as they are both still in school.

My cousins son who is in primary has had issue after issue. The on line work lessons he has to attend is making him very frustrated as too much screen time always had this effect on him. He can’t focus properly and has now refused to join in so is behind, he doesn’t qualify to be able to go in to school. His mother has depression so the atmosphere in the house is very low and they are at the point where they are not even getting dressed for days.

Both kids will be fine academically - they were ahead before the lockdown, which has stood them in relative good stead. Socially and emotionally probably not; I was glad when they were discussing “catch ups” this week that people were starting to bring up this issue and mentioning things like money towards more schools clubs etc to allow them socialisation opportunities as well as being able to catch up educationally.

Yes. Years 7 & 9.
I'd like them to repeat the year.

Academically I think mine will be fine, Years 6 and 8. They changed school in September after being in an international school overseas and were both ahead which I’d expected.

Both schools doing a great job with remote learning, they are mostly engaged and working happily without complaint!

Although they seem fine and I’m fortunate they get on brilliantly, I worry about the social and emotional side of it. They had so much change last year with moving country, living away from DH (he’s still working away), new schools, new area etc

I teach older secondary school kids. My classes are all year 10-13. On average, they aren’t behind. Individually, it’s a different story. Some kids are ahead of where they would have been without lockdown, some are pretty much where I would have expected and some have definitely fallen behind. It isn’t anywhere near as simple as the privileged being further ahead. There are so many factors at play mental health, home environment, responsibility for younger siblings, behaviour in school etc. at play. Some of the more disadvantaged are thriving, others not so much. As a school we’ve spent tens of thousands on getting laptops to staff and to students who need them and we’ve had some form of live online provision (not always video but sticking to the timetable with teachers online during lessons) since March. My year 11s have finished the GCSE content (admittedly we had a unit removed in history) and we are now working on revision and consolidation for their assessments (in whatever form they will take) in May-June. They are ready to progress into Sixth Form and it would be madness to hold them back. The government should never have suspended the curriculum in March. It was a totally baffling decision that showed a total lack of will and imagination. We’d already been closed a few days when the national closure happened so had already laid out our plans for remote education and just carried on with what we had planned. I can see why other schools who were trying to plan after the government announcement made different decisions to us though.

Yes
Really is heartbreaking for my DD who would be taking GCSEs
They simply haven't done the content for most lessons
They are going through entire topics in one or two power points
She and her friends are up until around around 11pm every night trying to cram in the content and return the work (ALWAYS due next day 😡)

She just isn't ready for any type of exam

But then, maybe the her GCSEs will be assessed on a random piece of work done at 10.30 at night, who knows

This is top set, for a girl that tends to be in the top 2 or 3 children regarding assessments for her year

My main hope is she gets through it, without a breakdown (genuinely). She was planning on A levels and had even picked a university course ☹️

I'm looking at apprenticeships, but I think may be too late

The whole thing is just awful, I hope it was worth it 😡🤔

@Frozenintime

Definitely. Year 10. Should be a big year for social development but there's been no socialisation since March 2020 😡 Academically a disaster. Months lost in first lockdown and most of Sept- December lost due to 2 week periods of isolation.

DD14 year 10 - I agree 100% - remote lessons are an extremely poor second to the real thing - our kids do enough interaction through screens ffs - DD18 didn’t sit A levels but got predicted A*AA because she worked bloody hard and has taken a year out (thank God) before going to do Law at Manchester.

I am a single parent on a low income with no maintenance from Father - my kids need school - enough said.

My year 11 definitely will suffer. Provision was basically nil live during first lockdown. Now it's not bad but nothing like it would be in person. He's dyslexic and struggles with motivation. I'm working from home f/t and cant teach him-he's doing very different subjects from me and I need to be working 8.30 to 5.30 at least.
Ds2 is i year 5 and was ahead academically. He does all the work quickly but i do think he would be achieving better in school. He's missing friends and starting to get very demotivated. The school has c1/2 hour of live lessons/ assembly/ whatever a day, which I think is far less than he should have. I strongly suspect he will be behind his peers who have been in school when he returns. Added to this we're in a grammar school area. I am already predicting difficulties as children who have live provision are likely to do better than those who did not. Previously we were fairly sure ds2 would pass the 11plus with no tutoring. I am far less sure about that as lockdown gets longer and longer.

In Finland more formal learning doesn’t start until 7 and it’s much more play based before then so I’m not worried about the younger ones. They will do fine. Children learn so much through play so if they are getting lots of free play time and get outdoors they should be fine with the exception of those that that are in households where the stimulation and parenting is a significant struggle.

It’s the older kids I’m more concerned about as lots don’t seem to be engaging (unsurprisingly) and peer relationships are so important during adolescence so I think they will need some serious extra support as a generation to help the recovery. Again, some will do better than others depending on their context.

I think the socio-economic divisions have increased, and will increase further, without a massive societal change on our path to recovery.

Definitely for ds1 doing A levels in science. Was getting A's before lockdowns started and now more like a C in the subject he wants to do at University which is not great. In fairness his college has upped their game in this last lockdown and is now providing much better online teaching.

If I am honest though I am more concerned he is pacing around the house like a caged wild animal and not going out of the house. Sixth form was when we hoped he would learn to mix with his peers again (was in a special school for secondary and now back in mainstream) which clearly is not happening.

@Msmcc1212

In Finland more formal learning doesn’t start until 7 and it’s much more play based before then so I’m not worried about the younger ones. They will do fine. Children learn so much through play so if they are getting lots of free play time and get outdoors they should be fine with the exception of those that that are in households where the stimulation and parenting is a significant struggle.

It’s the older kids I’m more concerned about as lots don’t seem to be engaging (unsurprisingly) and peer relationships are so important during adolescence so I think they will need some serious extra support as a generation to help the recovery. Again, some will do better than others depending on their context.

I think the socio-economic divisions have increased, and will increase further, without a massive societal change on our path to recovery.

A friend said this yesterday.

The problem is all those seven years olds in Europe will be starting at the same time and level - in the U.K. not so. There there will be a huge disparity in the U.K. kids at a very young age. The problem with U.K. state schools is because they are usually so crowded they push on through the syllabus and don’t have much time to revisit work already covered. If it’s been missed there will likely be a hole in the child’s learning - which is already happening pre covid.

My DS is yr1. I'm not too concerned about him at the moment as such as he's doing pretty well with phonics, reading, maths etc. and we're putting in the effort with homeschooling.

My worry is as some PPs have said is that its obvious from the class chat that some families are not doing the work (not because they don't have the time) and unfortunately they are some of the kids at the lower end of the ability scale. My big concern is how much work and focus the teacher and TA is going to have to put into those children (which they absolutely need to, not disputing that) but it'll be at the expense of those at the other end of the scale

Yes I do think their education will suffer.l and has suffered massively. My children’s high school have only just started delivering a handful of online lessons, but still not across the board. My year 11 gcse pupil’s estimates grades have gone down by 2 grades across the board, just got report through ready for online parents evening, which isn’t going to be fun. Home learning is not a success for him. I think he will need re think plan/ aspirations for September. I feel very passionately about how kids especially teenagers have been let down during this pandemic. The consequences will be far reaching to many, it’s not just about one or two years its how it leads on to options available to them to move forward in life.

@3asAbird Actually I've had a development with year 12 dd. School are letting her back a few days a week after half term. She is so happy as she feels she'll be able to work in school. I think there's a very small number of 6th formers in, so dd knows that it will be far from normal, but really feels it's going to help. I feel slightly hopeful.

Floridaflipflops

Good point. May be it will prompt some changes in how things are done....she types hopefully.

The problem with U.K. state schools is because they are usually so crowded they push on through the syllabus and don’t have much time to revisit work already covered.
Really? That's not our experience. I thought they operated a spiral curriculum that keeps revisiting the same things. Hence the annual ugh they're doing place value agaaaaaain moanfest.

I work for a very large secondary. We have unfortunately had years where we have had teachers sick for almost a whole year, popping in and out just enough that we didn't take them off timetable for non exam years.

Because we're a big school, we're very narrowly streamed. At the end of a year mostly without proper consistent maths teachers, most children in the affected classes still got scores above the class below and below the class above. I'm sure it affected them and we certainly did find gaps in their knowledge in subsequent years, but it didn't affect them as much as you would imagine. The same goes for the performance of the classes of our best teachers compared to classes of our worst - higher than the group below, lower than the group above.

In my experience, the most important factor in a student's success seems to be the student.

@Svrider

Yes Really is heartbreaking for my DD who would be taking GCSEs They simply haven't done the content for most lessons They are going through entire topics in one or two power points She and her friends are up until around around 11pm every night trying to cram in the content and return the work (ALWAYS due next day 😡)

She just isn't ready for any type of exam

But then, maybe the her GCSEs will be assessed on a random piece of work done at 10.30 at night, who knows

This is top set, for a girl that tends to be in the top 2 or 3 children regarding assessments for her year

My main hope is she gets through it, without a breakdown (genuinely). She was planning on A levels and had even picked a university course ☹️

I'm looking at apprenticeships, but I think may be too late

The whole thing is just awful, I hope it was worth it 😡🤔

That's awful, you have my sympathies. It's outrageous that some schools have been allowed to do this. PowerPoints have always been, and always will be, a pretty pro-mem for what's been taught by a teacher. Not as a substitute. I've always said the day I start sending PowerPoints is the day I need a new job because I'm certainly not doing mine properly.