BBC to start broadcasting lessons from 20th April

[noblegiraffe]

It seems the BBC is stepping up as a public broadcaster to provide an education during lockdown. A TV channel, online lessons, resources, podcasts.

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

This has the potential to be a fantastic resource. Will the DfE start actually doing some coordinating? Centrally mandated lessons on TV could really help reach disadvantaged kids who don’t have access to the devices needed for what schools are offering. It could also save teachers a massive job in trying to create their own content.

Watch this space, I guess.

The maths is definitely under par compared to the White Rose home learning

I thought they had teamed up with White Rose? This was the plan I’d seen.

There used to be loads of good school tv, not sure why they stopped it! They could have started showing some older ones three weeks ago (but they probably didn't as the NC has changed slightly since then). Looking forward to Monday!

Oh, I couldn't see it noble : must look again...

Nope. Still can't see year 9 English...

The Maths (primary) is odd.

White Rose, for example, has already been doing daily Home Learning videos + worksheets, working through the existing White Rose long term plans (great for those schools who use those plans, trickier for schools that don't). They have 2 more weeks of those already on their website (minus a few resources, but the plans are clear). It follows a sensible, progressive step by step set of lessons, where the objectives move on a little each day but stay within the same topic.

On the other hand, the BBC stuff is much less coherent - basically a (completely separate) topic per day, and resources from a different provider (Twinkl, Collins, White rose, mainly BBC itself) each day. It's not obviously progressive, and from the child's point of view would seem very random.

Given a choice, if the school I work on hadn't gone for a tailored approach using an existing online provider and its own long term plans, I'd go for White Rose, not the BBC 'a bit of everything' resources.

What I read from that grid noble is that White Rose are finishing off their own thing for two weeks and then the topics will be the same from week 3.

However, compare these two follow up activities on rounding- random 'game' rounding whole numbers for Y6 from BBC, clear questions on rounding decimals for Y5- with answers provided. Big quality difference.

There now, piggy! Maybe they were still uploading them.

NCETM have produced some maths video lessons for primary.

www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/54454

First glance is that it's blooming easy but at the same time that's probably a good thing if you think that some parents will be relying on their children being able to do this fairly independently while they work.

Also I think pitching lower is better for pupils (and their parents) who aren't at the more able ends of cohorts. Less anxiety.

I may have to move my son up to the y3 stuff from y2 maths though. He won't work if it's "boring!"

There's actually quite a lot of decent stuff out there for primary (in terms of lessons and resources). The difficult thing is stitching them together into some kind of curriculum / timetable without completely messing up the longer term picture. These children will eventually return to the classroom and it will be useful to have some idea of what, from the long term plan, some will have covered vs none will have covered vs most will have revised a lot because it's easy to provide work of that type. that's why we're stitching together our own 'route' through the material out there, using our long term plans as a basic structure.

There's actually quite a lot of decent stuff out there for primary (in terms of lessons and resources).

There is absolutely loads of amazing stuff. The appeal of the BBC offering was a 'one stop shop' of good quality, planned, progressive lessons, which would be much easier for parents- or even the children by themselves- to navigate. It doesn't look like we are getting that so, indeed, back to Plan A of each teacher curating their own stuff.

Just curious for people on low income/no WiFi how does iplayer or red button work? Can you use it on basic free view? Most people will have tv so access to normal channels. does that include everything here?

I also see MNetters who don’t buy a licence because they don’t watch live tv. Do you need one for this (officially or actually by putting in licence number?)

Dd10 has already had some great lessons via bbc bitesize set from school so this is fab

I see tv licence being an issue for some as lots don't have one.
I hope our school carry on with uploading the lesson and resources and don't tell them to use the bbc.

There's actually quite a lot of decent stuff out there for primary (in terms of lessons and resources). The difficult thing is stitching them together into some kind of curriculum / timetable without completely messing up the longer term picture

To be honest I’m sick of having quite so much choice.

I’m a reasonably intelligent individual. But I’m now completely flummoxed about quite what the dc ‘should’ be learning.

The school have linked and suggested and emailed a variety of ‘fantastic’ resources in the past few weeks. I keep getting tagged in home learning videos and resources on Facebook. Everyone is suggesting x for maths and y for English and there are programmes and podcasts coming out of my ears.

It’s overwhelming. I just want the school to send out a timetable/plan with exactly what they should be doing, not 35 individual suggestions of different resources that I have no time to go through and pluck the relevant bits from.

I just want the school to send out a timetable/plan with exactly what they should be doing, not 35 individual suggestions of different resources that I have no time to go through and pluck the relevant bits from.

Exactly.

So that's what we are doing each week - looking at what we would be teaching in school, cutting it down where significant 'teaching input' would normally be needed, identifying decent resources to cover those objectives, and pointing parents / children at them.

Then, if the work isn't automatically marked by an online system (which we monitor the 'teacher' side of), and can't be self-marked, we stipulate a simple way to hand in the work for feedback, and we mark it.

Yes, there may be fantastic resources out there, which individually might be better than the ones we find - it's like when planning for lessons in school, there's almost certainly something 'slightly better' out there given infinite time to Google.

What we see as most important, though, is setting up clear instructions, which bear the long term roadmap in mind while being possible for children to do at home with fairly limited parental input.

We knew that the BBC wouldn't do this, because it has no reason to cover the curriculum in the same way or the same order as we do. What I am surprised by is how much worse the Maths at least looks than the sum of its parts.

I had seen the greatest utility of the BBC, by the way, when schools are 'a bit more open' but where some children are still at home - so teachers don't have the time both to stand in front of classes and set online work in the way they are at present. A decent BBC offering would at least be an adequate way of servicing the educational needs of the children necessarily still at home.

The maths is rubbish.

Loosing the numeracy strategy was the worst thing that government did. They could have referenced those online tools they developed and buckets of other stuff that was simple that there.

I agree that it’s pretty crap.
I teach secondary history. For year 10 there is one lesson up for next week for Weimar Germany. Like a very large number of schools, we don’t teach Weimar Germany. And even if we did teach Weimar Germany, I don’t think I’d find what they’ve provided massively useful.
The key stage 3 stuff looks OK for year groups that are at a less critical stage but doesn’t match up with our curriculum. I don’t teach Key Stage 3 this year but I doubt the HOD will be recommending it to the kids. We definitely won’t be using it for year 10 and there is nothing for Key Stage 5 so a bit of a damp squib for me.

I can’t be arsed with all this picking and choosing as a parent. I’ve bought maths, times tables, handwriting and comprehension books for both DC and they do a page out of those, along with story writing and some maths stuff on the laptop, but I just put them on the site and let them choose. I’m a teacher but I’m not co-ordinating a curriculum for them. Some of everything every day to keep in practice and then go and run about outside for a bit.

Michael I'm doing the same for mine. I agree the choice is overwhelming.

I've just written a list of short daily independent things he will do similar to how we work at school when they arrive; short morning maths tables quiz, spellings, reading, some handwriting and then the school are setting an optional weekly lit, num and topic task. We've got reading eggs and the maths thing on there is good too so I'll try to get him on there. He (and I!) needs to do something familiar and repetitive I've decided.

For me the key things to keep up are reading ( discussing and comprehension) spellings (y2), tables and handwriting. But especially enjoyable reading.

I do think for teachers creating content for some cohorts the bbc stuff is useful eg, watch this link and do xyz.

I know some parents who will love it though.

Out of interest which work books did you get?

It's good f the BBC to try, I guess ,although I am sure it is part of their pubic responsibility. The problem is that many teachers won't have time to trawl through, this and much of it probably doesn't fit Schemes of Work. The English stuff is sometimes generic, sometimes specific and parents won't know if it is relevant and helpful or not. For example, there is stuff on year 10 English on a poem that some DCs might not study.

I think this will all become yet another generic resource email some schools will send out to parents and then posts on MN will appear complaining about being overwhelmed with suggested resources...

That said, I don't know what I expected. Perhaps a bit less of a rehash of old material. But they are reacting on the hoof just like all of us.

It will be interesting to see what we get when they run out of existing stuff. They have said they will do 14 weeks of coverage. There is no way they have 70 English videos.

Anyway, yes as Piggy says- it is good of them to try and if they manage to tick of one or two subjects for me, I'll be happy.

much of it probably doesn't fit Schemes of Work.

This is the issue, under the previous curriculum it was all aligned across the country. I remember using bbc more often as it fitted closely to the curriculum.

The curriculum is a mush mash now. Twinkl does my head in as a teacher as there's so much choice.

I make my own stuff, as I always have, but resent the time sometimes. But find searching for stuff takes as much time.