Only live ‘lesson’ from school is reading. I’m struggling.

[Mully78]

Primary school Yr4.

A quick zoom at 9am to take register and list the work set (10 mins) and then left alone until 11.30 when the teacher reads a chapter of a book via zoom (30mins). A catch up at the end of the day for 15 mins to hold up and show work done.

I’m struggling to help my DS with the maths work set even though they do send a Whiterose video link which we watch together. For the English work I have no idea how to help with explaining adverbs etc and I’m scared I’ll teach him it wrong.

I can do reading with DS but I can’t teach maths or English. I wish the teacher would teach the stuff that we as parents can’t.

I appreciate them coming on throughout the day but wish they would change what they do. They are only half way through the book being read so can’t see them stopping in that.

I’ve never emailed the school before. How should I word my email? Do I send it to the teacher or the Headmistress?

Any advice appreciated.

YR2, we have 3x 20-30 min zoom per day, and KW children are doing the same as children at home, they are also logged into zoom from school

Works well, the teachers explain the concepts and do some practice examples from what I can see (not listening in / watching the whole time) then the children get on with the work

Can’t fault it - the whole system works really well and the teachers comment on work uploaded every day

We are both working FT from home and on calls most of the day so need to make sure DD gets on zoom at the right time but the learning is going well as she hasn’t had that many questions outside of what the teachers are sharing

Overall the (state primary) school has been fantastically organised, their home learning all term is already up there so seems they planned ahead for disruption last year

My younger two children aged 9 and 11 get no live schooling. A zoom call on a Friday with all the class to check in. Everyday we are receiving more and more work. It's a struggle.

The majority of work for our p6 child is via recorded videos (by the teachers). The only live content they get is a weekly catch up with their teacher in small groups. The teachers are also available twice daily for questions over messenger. It works quite well for us as he can watch the videos at any time. Work is marked daily and feedback given. They also have recorded assemblies and those who receive it get weekly live lessons with a support teacher.

The older one gets a normal timetable of live lessons and prep on top. It’s very hard going. He’s exhausted being in live calls all day with work to complete on top.

We had a terrible day yesterday with my Y4.

She had a PowerPoint to read through about conjunctions then had to put 10 clauses together into 5 sentences using conjunctions. I think she should have been capable of it but she seemed to really struggle & it turned into a huge battle. Then we had a MyMaths homework on equivalent fractions. I don’t know if they’ve previously done them in school but it’s the first time we’ve been set work on them at home & she had no idea what she was supposed to do. I was working with my Rec child & didn’t realise she had no idea what she was doing until she had finished the work with a score of 7/20. Argh.

In terms of interaction/feedback she’s had 2 emails from her teacher.

That’s mostly just me moaning, sorry, but it’s really interesting to hear what other schools are providing.

Yr 1 here and only 'live' lesson is phonics. Its a pre recording of a screen. I don't know as whole class zooms would work because at 5 and 6 there'd be lots of shouting and may upset the quieter ones. It would be nice to try! There is lots of personal interation via the app from teaching staff and an as live class story. DD is very grateful to be able to ask her teacher something via video message and get one back.

I think pps have hit the nail on the head. Young children need and are used to constant supervision and adult help. DD would not be able to access any learning without me. Let alone a zoom. She can do the work easily, but needs me to sit with her. The same as she'd be sitting with her class and her teacher and class TA floating about for help and reassurance.

Heaven knows how people who are working are managing. I am at breaking point and am desperate for school to reopen.

A thing that does annoy me apart from the adult input is, we have needed to fund resources for art and science this week. I know if I'd have asked they may have given, but running off to the range for art stuff defeats the object of staying home. I could have said no and make do, but the class points is still going and they need to have work uploaded to get points. DD is devastated that children who are in school are getting points in class, then coming home and uploading more stuff to get more.

I've EXACTLY the same problem. Complaint sent to the school, waiting for a response. I'm sorry, the White Rose lessons are poor in my opinion. Totally unengaging. No face of the presenter. Oak Academy classes are way better.

Zoom oak and white rose all work ok for my yr 4.
But none of those are working for yr r child. Who is basically doing almost nothing.
Though at least the zoom is introducing the new phonics.

The issue with zoom is its a lot of time logging in and waiting for it etc for only 20min. Then they are tired and want a break. Ideally lesson at say 9.30 then next one at 10.30 but instead we have 4h gap. It really disrupts the day.

Completely different here in Germany compared to the U.K.
We have a 30 minute Zoom call first thing in the morning where the day is set out for the children.
The school uses the SeeSaw app, and the work is uploaded there with teachers making videos explaining the work, also providing links and all of the work is done and uploaded via the app (except for maybe drawings or writing practise, we then take a picture and upload it to the app).
The children upload the work when they're finished, and usually within 30 minutes the teacher has provided feedback to the child.
At the end of every week the parents and children are encouraged to give feedback to the teachers on what worked and what didn't, and they try to work off of that for the next week.
The children aren't getting more than 4 tasks per day, which is manageable.
I'll point out this is a British international school in Germany, so no idea about the German system but I was under the impression the U.K. was working in a similar fashion. I'm surprised it isn't.
Really feel for all of those struggling! We had a nightmare week last week, but things have been easier this week for us!

@jerriblank thanks sounds like you've a much better system in your international school compared to over here,.

So would you say classes are organised so that children can independently do everything? The idea of a 7 year old scanning and uploading his/her work is unrealistic imo.

My personal thoughts are that self-contained video lessons where all children are expected to bring is paper and a pen and then pause when the video prompts them to do so. This is how the Oak Academy lessons are designed, as well as the Lumni lessons for children in France. The children don't need to go anywhere. 4 videos per day I think is an easy solution as a bare minimum.

If children are expected to toggle between different windows/apps, clicking on links for more info etc.. , they'll get confused and not be able to follow.

Well what @jerriblank is getting in Germany sounds almost exactly the same as what I'm delivering in England... I respond to probably 75% of children's work within about 10 or 15 minutes and all within a couple of hours. Check and comment on every bit of work submitted. I'm not sure how many children and parents read it though...

@Subordinateclause well many children are unlucky not to have you as their teacher. Virtually all my kids get are a bunch of twinkl and whiterose maths worksheets with answers to check against. Self-service teaching! Max 1 zoom call a week.

Or a 300 word "short explanation" of what the task for the day is followed by 8 different files and websites they have to toggle between. For a 7 yo. The idea of a young child printing (what they think actually needs printing), and scanning back (in Windows!!) and uploading back into the cloud site is laughable.

Unfortunately this is why Ofsted needs to step in (which they aren't). Some schools are failing us and no one gives a damn.

@Soontobe60 how is it ok to prioritise KW children in school like that? Lots of children will be at home with KW parents too! All children should be getting the same quality of teaching otherwise we should just reopen the schools. A two tier system is outrageous.

My children get Zero live teaching.

They haven't had a chance to speak to their teacher since December. DH and I are both keyworkers and very busy but able to WfH.

My children are enthusiastic students but find the recorded videos stale and demotivating

Do you have a copy of said book that you can read with your child or is the segment read by the teacher the only bit you access? If the latter, why not try to record it and then play it back. You may actually be able to find the entire book online which would help.

Technical grammar stuff you can google if you don't remember it all from your school days; most of us don't, we absorbed it at the time and unconsciously use it when we write but generally can't analyse it. I was good at English but there are many intricacies I have forgotten (mind you I am probably a lot older than you).

White rose maths videos we've found to be great. Maths can be quite challenging teaching new concepts from scratch, it's a big ask of parents.

The rest of our work is from oak academy. The lessons are aimed at the whole of KS2 so pitched way too high for my year 3, already behind child. I find the videos boring and very unengaging. No live interaction with the school or teachers whatsoever.

I feel my child's school are failing the children at home.