Cambridge state primaries - how much are they doing in lockdown?

[Adri28]

Hi,

I would like to know how much teaching Cambridge state primaries are doing in lockdown. Do they send work? Is it at all tailored to the child (Math sets, etc.)? Do they give meaningful feedback? Do they call? Any online lessons? Etc.

My child is in Year 5 so she needs something more complex than just a reading book and a sheet of times tables practice.

Many thanks in advance.

I doubt anyone can answer for more than a couple of schools.

Of course, I was hoping a few people would tell me their experience with their particular school. I wasn't expecting anyone to have done an exhaustive survey!

The advantage of the current situation is that you can look at various school websites and choose work from another one if you don't like what yours is setting!

Hardwick and Cambourne is setting Maths and English by year group, and all year groups are accessible. There is also some topic work. No online teaching, though DS2 has had a couple of class Zoom socials. When we have sent work through to his teachers (via the school office) they have responded with comments.

You could also take a look at Seneca and I See Maths for something a bit different.

Our primary hasn't done anything other than stick a few links on a website. It is woeful. I hear the private schools are doing brisk trade picking up disenfranchised parents.

Check out nrich maths

Our school (not in Cambridge itself but in one of the villages) has been providing very little. Nothing but a pack of printed worksheets between the beginning of lockdown and Easter, a couple of workbooks (but only for English 😳) sent home after Easter. No live lessons, no phone calls, the Maths is from White Rose and history from BBC Bitesize. No one has checked in on my us for weeks, so we could be dead or have emigrated for all they care. Very disappointed, and I'm just grateful for Oak Academy, which is fantastic.

I know there are lots of websites out there, some of them might even be good. However, both I and my husband work (a lot); we don't have time to go through tons of websites and choose the best worksheets or whatever - then mark the work and give feedback... Not to mention we don't know e.g. how to improve a ten-year-old's creative writing! "Very exciting story, use more big words" or what? That's what teachers are for!

Our small village primary has sent home loads, and arranged calls with children who haven’t been in school. Resources all online, teachers messaging children through the online platform, packs of resources to pick up at school (science kits etc). Virtual tours of the school for new starters in Reception next year.

A local church academy school has done sod all, by the sound of things and parents there are not happy.

Meant to say: each Monday we got a set of resources targeted around the week’s topic, setting out what was expected (e.g. do one from each area each day/week)

Have you looked at Oak Academy, the online school? If you click on classroom, year group, subject, there are lots of video lessons

Our school has been good. We've had planned lessons on all sorts of topics every day. The work came out to us each morning and we sent it back each afternoon.

We had daily contact with the teacher and classmates through a system called classdojo. We also had online lessons and fun work to do in a system called studyladder. At the beginning of lockdown we were given a big bag of workbooks that were great too, and so the teacher could assign us particular pages of the workbooks to do each day.

At the end of each day we scanned the work and sent it to the teacher through classdojo and she "liked" it and gave us comments.

I don't have a paying job myself so I was able to devote a lot of time to working with my son, and I really enjoyed tailoring the lessons to his interests, and to any gaps that I found in his knowledge. The teacher was really supportive about that too, and made us feel like a success each day, which was nice.

We also had weekly zoom calls with the class, just to have a chat, and that was great too.

This is how it has been at St Luke's Primary just north of the city centre, and I think it's been good.