y9 - getting any work done?

[azaleanth90]

I wondered what other peoples' (state) schools are offering. I'm feeling increasingly concerned at the lack of teaching - they're in the GCSE syllabus and must be missing loads, especially in the sciences. While teachers are available by email only one is actually teaching lessons. Maths is just work through mymaths, no lessons. I just don't see how they're ever going to catch up when y10-11 are so packed anyway. And that's assuming September is as normal which I guess it won't be!

DD is also in a school with a 3 year KS4, so working on GCSE options.
Other than slightly rejigging the order of teaching (they have for example, focused on an "easier" text in English Lit, and have changed the order of science teaching so Y9 and Y10 are covering the same subjects at the same time) she is basically doing the same work as she would be doing if she was in school.

She's not having any live lessons except English Lit (where the maximum number of students attending so far has been 7 out of 27) but the teacher is generally available on Teams during the lesson time to answer questions. It is is lot of self teaching - fortunately DD is very self motivated and happy to learn this way; others in her year group are finding it very hard, and I think engagement across the school (average comp, mixed catchment) is very variable. The beauty of the a 3 year KS4 is it does allow for some time to review topics (my older DS had finished every subject syllabus except geography by January), though DD's school say that this shouldn't be relied on! I don't know how the school will manage when they go back as they've all learnt such different amounts.

Science teachers have acknowledged that they will have to catch up on practicals when they get back.
The subject that is suffering most is drama, as there is so much expectation of group work - and that will probably be the biggest challenge to manage when they do go back.

My DTDs are Yr 9 but their school does a 2 year KS4. I feel like their school has the balance right - they have 3 lessons per day - mostly a 'read the powerpoint, do the work' type thing, though there has been some (not many) live lessons and some via video. They also have a check-in with their form tutor each week - in small groups via google teams, which has been really good. I have been really impressed. I'm a teacher too but only teach 6th form so mine has been full-on zoom teaching.

If your Yr 9 is in a 3 year KS4 then I honestly don't think you need to worry. KS4 is designed to be started in year 10. I know that lots of schools start it in Yr 9 now, but there is time in years 10 and 11 to do the full syllabus.

Redsky it's a shame your DC's drama teacher isn't being more inventive. I teach Performing Arts at a specialist 6th form college and we've done loads of practical and group work via zoom. I know there are different considerations with younger students but it is possible, if teachers are creative.

DS gets a variable amount of work for all subjects (except PE, citizenship, and RE work has been very low), with maybe one or two live lessons a week.
English lit (which they would normally sit in yr10) has been good with work set per lesson, maths has been mostly Mathswatch. But since March 24th he has had precisely 2 lots of feedback (IT and Technology), teachers aren't reaching out - its just 'upload your work to this location' and hear nothing back.
Its really demoralising tbh

Demoralising, that's just it - motivation is already a struggle tbh and the teachers just say 'contact me if you have problems'. Tbf 14 year olds are not the easiest to reach, are they?

Agreed. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to motivate Yr 9 DS to work. There’s hardly any interaction. Just an occasional general email from form tutor. No feedback on work set and no live teaching or
Videos etc just worksheet style formats...
I feel like he’s just getting further and further behind. I work long hours and it’s very difficult to persuade him to take it seriously. I wish he had some more interactive work or feedback on at least some of the work that is being handed in. It just makes it harder to encourage him to engage
It’s very depressing.....

Exact same situation as others here. No feedback, no online or scheduled classes, very little teacher interaction.

I get depressed when her friends in other schools complain of having too much facetime with their teachers! Meanwhile mine are falling behind. It's all very well saying that parents can fill the gaps but we have jobs, elderly parents to care for, other children.. And we're not teachers so we don't know the curriculum.

Ds2 is year 9, they are covering GCSE stuff in several subjects. They have been told for science if they do not do the work it will be set as homework when they return. They have narrated videos that are clearly filmed by the teacher and they try to make them as interesting as possible.

English lit is their GCSE Shakespeare texts, YouTube clips of the different versions, all powerpoint presentations but a good indepth look at characters and themes.

History is GCSE and they are working their way through a topic. It is definitely in class format ie the powerpoint asks them to list things or think about why something happened that way, before setting work.

There has been no marking or individual feedback which is frustrating but I feel like they are really trying. You can contact teachers and they do reply the same day. It is an incredible school and I cannot fault them.

Yr 9 DS. Maths, science, and English are GSCE set work - expected to do at least 4 hrs every week. Then they have been giving bridging work for their 4 options next year which are huge. (MFL for example is 54 pages - basically a mini textbook!) It is expected to be done between now and September and handed in on return in September. The teachers are available on email for all subjects. Options topics are expected to catch up with each teacher at least once per week to let them know how they are getting on. All other classes they are not taking next year have been stopped (which is fine!) The teachers have been setting "new" work in a flipped learning style, so not just revision (which is a common complaint on here). I think they have done fab. All work is being marked, with feedback and chased up if not done.

as in, four hours of each subject per week!

Just to add, they have also been getting the student leaders to record films and write motivational emails and check-in. We also get loads of info on the support available if needed with both learning and mental health.

(I'm a science teacher)

We're not doing any live or video lessons. We're setting 5 lesson a fortnight that are based on links to information and videos, with tasks to complete independently. We can be contacted by email to help (hopefully moving to using teams but set up is taking time) .

They then have a set task that will be marked and feedback given. Our syllabus for combined is 6 modules per science (B1-6, C1-6, P1-6) Year 9 normally get through all the 1s and 2s and B4.

Because not all classes work on the same module at the same time when we 'finished' they had all done all the 1s and half the 2s, but different 2s if you see what I mean.

Through lockdown they've done all the 2s, so some revision and some new learning, and will do B4. So they will have covered the expected content. This is possible because they would normally have had a set of year 9 'mocks' that haven't happened.

We will have to catch up on practicals and do extra revision for the remote learning they've done, but the ones who have engaged (most of mine have done really well) won't be too far 'behind' and we should have plenty of time to catch up so they can complete the course normally.

I don't have a year nine group for separate science but my colleagues have said they are on track too.

Some schools manage in 2 years, so I'm sure we can fit it in.

A real range then. I don't have much confidence our school will help them catch up tbh. And mine already had learning issues that have now been completely forgotten. Science and maths seems particularly hard but I also have a kid who is determined not to ask for help . I was counting on school input to get him through the worst teen lack of motivation.

My DS is year 9 but they have just moved into GCSEs now. He is dyslexic and it's not easy at all, just being told to read a PowerPoint is not at all easy for him. It's like a wall which he can't climb over. He has had a couple of video lessons but i wish they had more. TBH I don't know why they don't have more

Probably time best before

We are setting online work for every lesson for every year group but then prioritising y10 and y 12 who are getting 1:1 online lessons of 30 mins each per fortnight ( this obviously takes a lot of time, in my case That equates to 47 hours per fortnight on 1:1 s alone) then class teams lessons for y12 accounts for another 10 hours. In the remaining time i have to set work and mark work ( at least one piece of feedback per kid per week) for the rest of the them.

Yes I guess so, it's picked up a bit this week actually. They are also getting used to their system (tech) - on both sides. Steep learning curves all round. Urrrhggg I just wish they were all back to normal.