Spending ages finding, preparing and setting work that doesn't get done.

[DrMadelineMaxwell]

I get that it was a great message to give to parents that they are not teachers and that anything that they can do while schools are shut to help is great.

But after our school sent out that message, the amount of my class who is doing anything that I set has dropped from about half-3/4 down to a handful of kids. Sometimes just one or two.
It does mean there's less time being spent having to give feedback on it all, but also means I'm finding it tempting to begrudge the time it takes to do it.

One fb friend is a parent of a child in my class. If there was homeschooling competition then she'd win first place, but very, very little of what they are doing is anything we are setting.
Which is great - her child is learning and enjoying it. And she's happy doing it.
But I worry about all the kids who have no support at home to do anything, or who have put their foot down and are refusing to, or who just took the 'don't worry' message to mean don't bother.

I have y6 and worry about the knock on for next year for some of them.

To some extent, actually, it is up to the school/MAT/local authority. In some schools, there is a very high proportion of children with keyworker parents.
It's not up to the school to define KW.
It is up to them to arrange provision how they see fit, and how they can (lack of staff may be an issue, as it was before the holidays at DS school, and this may mean they can't arrange anything; small numbers may mean combining sites; larger numbers may mean calling in supply staff if possible; DS' former TA is supply in specialist schools and has been in great demand.).
It is up to the government to define KW. Not the school.

If your friend who is a MH nurse doesn’t have a partner then I can see she needs childcare to perform her role. If she does then I don’t see school is unavoidable.
AFAIK her DH is partly WFH but has some roles that must be done on site (he's in tech but not KW). I don't know if she's managing to juggle appointments round his hours out of the house or if she's using school as everyone is massively judgy on social media if you ARE using school so I know people are not owning up to it.

So one school badly communicated key workers (probably to put off the entitled chancers) and suddenly we're all unreasonable.

The list of keyworkers is huge. If everyone claimed their place, it wouldn't be worth schools closing.

If your ds didn't have an EHCP you would be expected to keep your children at home. There are millions of non KWs managing to WFH with children around.

I hear you OP.
I have set classwork and assessed work for two large year groups and quite a sizeable number have not even bothered to look at it let alone do anything. I refuse to chase up as that is a complete waste of my time. I have factored in tricky situations at homes, lack of computers, parents WFH etc etc but still.... nearly 200 kids who have done nothing at all. Im past caring right now. I will continue to mark , record and feedback on assessed work for those who submit. I have tried hard to make the work as accessible as possible and that has taken many many hours of planning.

So one school badly communicated key workers (probably to put off the entitled chancers) and suddenly we're all unreasonable.

Not one school. They didn't badly communicate. They redefined key workers. There are hardly any entitled chancers in DS school as there are only 32 pupils, half have EHCPs and all bar about 5 rely on taxis to get them there, which aren't being provided.
I'm responding to someone else who said their DCs' school did similar, upthread. I know there are others from friends.

If your ds didn't have an EHCP you would be expected to keep your children at home.
DD doesn't have an EHCP and her school thinks otherwise. They have, quite sensibly, left it up to us to decide whether she goes or not, and have offered her as much time as we (i.e. DH) needs.

I think the GCSE results are going to be really interesting next year. There are some year 20s who have coped with taking much more responsibility for their own learning, are diving into the work set and may even make more progress than when at school because they have less distractions and aren't spending time traveling to school etc.
Then there are others who will be doing very little.
I'm wondering if the graph of results may look very different to normal and perhaps even have a double peak because some have pushed ahead whilst others will be so behind that even when back in school, the they can't catch up enough to be where they would have been in more usual circumstances.

Year 10s not year 20s!

Are you doing too much OP? If it seems an overwhelming amount or children can't do it independently, it won't be done.

Something like a maths video/worksheet, a reading comprehension sheet, refer to something on BBC bitesize or Oak Academy is more than enough for most families to manage.

Your dd wouldn't be attending my school, you are WFH and not a key worker so she should be at home with you. Everyone else is muddling through, so you would have to.

Why can't you keep an eye on your dd?

I have friends in a variety of sectors with pre schoolers and babies at home who are managing. Single parents too.

You've openly admitted your dh isn't vital to keeping the country going.

You've got a big chip on your shoulder about your entitlement.

What age do you teach? As a teacher and mum I'm finding I'm having to gently ease ds (7) back into anything. Other parents are really struggling with sibling fighting, stress, workload etc. His young brother is a big distraction.

Keep setting it and keep it simple. Keep it broad as some kids will willingly write lots; others will willingly do maths or science.

I did the white rose stuff with ds (half way through realising you use the worksheet at the same time DOH!) and he loved it. It was proper "learning." But would then only do half hearted literacy worksheet bits which I know were just a paper exercise for him.

Parents doing non set work may be trying to get into this whole thing themselves, in a fun way, which will ultimately help engagement. maybe just give it a week or so longer.

I rate the art lessons on Oak, there's only two but most ages could do the y5/6 one.

I have no issue with children what they can and on some days doing nothing, apart from the concern about how to pick up the pieces for a select few who will not have held a pencil for the last 5 weeks with more weeks stretching ahead of us. It's how much learning those children are doing that mostly concerns me.

This is going to be a problem across the country and also many parts of the world. It's very worrying and frustrating and the main reason why France has half opened schools (it's very staggered and only 2 days for most children) We will all pick up afterwards. ds brightly commented it was like ww3 yesterday; us v the virus. And it sort of is.

I must say, endless CBeebies and cbbc watching is actually v educational. He could tell be all the key dates relating to the Crimean war yesterday... (TY horrible histories !)

They have, quite sensibly, left it up to us to decide whether she goes or not, and have offered her as much time as we (i.e. DH) needs. Doesn’t sound sensible to me at all. It sounds like neither you nor the school are following the spirit of the instructions and you are risking spreading infection rather than exert yourself...but that may be just how you come across. If you can keep your child at home you should. Choice is not part of that sentiment.

I'm a parent and I sympathise with what you are saying hugely. Even in my group of friends we are all approaching our Y4 kids' work differently. Keen Mum has taken the opportunity to hot-house her kids, they are working flat out including through the Easter holidays - so far ahead, she is now coaching the Y4 child for 11+ exam.

At the other extreme Given-up Mum is so overwhelmed by the deluge of websites, logins and packs of worksheets we are expected to print, that she has decided to follow her own curriculum. To be fair, our school have not asked us to hand in any work, hand haven't really asked what we are doing specifically. We haven't had any personal contact from our class teacher but there was a generic email to the kids on 24 March. We have been told they are monitoring logins to certain websites, but they made it all sound optional so I estimate 90% of the class is ignoring most of what they send us.

It hadn't struck me the teacher might actually be worrying about what we were doing. All I hear from school is how busy they are, so I rather thought they didnt want to hear from us. I did email the teacher twice but had no reply, so I am joining Given-Up Mum, I'm now New Zeal Mum and I've decided doing my own curriculum tailored to my DD's interests, strengths and weaknesses is going to lead to the best results.

But I definitely read EVERYTHING the school sends, I'm up for hours at night looking at the materials, watching videos online, checking logins work etc. Its just that some days DD just hates the work that has been set.

Please don't give up and don't feel what you are doing is futile.

Another way of looking at it is - you are being paid to do this, so you should continue doing it to best if your ability, you are not doing this for fun.

Have you considered actually spending a day phoning the parents who you haven't heard from to see what the issue is? There may be some common themes you could learn from and improve how you are delivering content. It might simply be parents don't have time to send work in for feedback.

Doesn’t sound sensible to me at all. It sounds like neither you nor the school are following the spirit of the instructions and you are risking spreading infection rather than exert yourself.
They offered it because they decided the risk was relatively low (as they knew they didn't have many KW or vulnerable children in).
They left it up to us whether we took it.
If they'd had 50% of the children in because they were all vulnerable and/or NHS staff who have to go in, I can see that they might have let us know there was a place in theory "but the school will be very full because of XYZ".

Sounds like @5zeds isn't a teacher and doesn't think children should be in even a very empty school, not realising that the chances of catching CV are related to the number of people with whom you come into contact.

@Hercwasonaroll has no idea what my DH does (though perhaps the last post wasn't directed at me?) and it worries me that they appear to be a teacher who has also decided to make up the rules themselves.

DD can stay home and do nothing. She can't stay home and do nothing if DS is here (either one of us stays with him full time, or he winds her up to get attention). She also can't stay home and keep out of DH conference calls unless I spend all my time with her and get nothing done, sadly, as she is only 5 and a very young 5 at that. I can't do all my work at night. Her HT is much more appreciative of our circumstances, given that she actually, you know, understands our family setup, DD's needs, and what's going on in her school. As opposed to you who hopefully isn't really a teacher and doesn't think the parents at her school are "entitled".

I think earlier in the thread you said your dhs role wasn't vital in running the country, apologies if I was wrong.

There are literally plenty of couples at home who are dealing with similar situations to you and getting on with it. If DH wasn't a key worker what would you do?

The guidelines are clear, if they can be at home they should be.

I am really a teacher, your circumstances are difficult, however you aren't coming across well here.

Where have I made up any rules? I've quoted the government guidelines.

For example I have teaching colleagues with 1yo and 3yo at home and a single mum. She isn't using her key worker place because her nursery is shut. She has no other option.

A friend has a DS with complex needs who attends a special school. The school is closed due to lack of staff. So she has to cope with him and his 3yo sister at home. She isn't a key worker but her work needs to be done. So she does it in the evening and gets up at 5am.

If DH wasn't a key worker what would you do?
We'd both be able to reduce our working hours more (him officially and if he was doing less officially, he'd be more able to take over on his non-working days when I needed help; my colleagues are able to be more understanding if I can make core hours meetings, about the non-time-bound things I can't manage so I could work less too) . He was talking about doing that before all this anyway. If his role wasn't vital, he'd hardly be classed as a KW, now would he.

As a teacher, it really ISN'T up to you to decide who is a KW and who isn't. You don't get to make those judgements when the government has made a set of definitions. It's like you are saying "well, I don't think that child with an EHCP needs the provision in it, so I'm not going to bother providing it" or "I don't think this child is ready for school in September so I'm going to decide not to take them till next year". If you ran a nursery on a hospital site, clearly ALL your children would be KW children and you couldn't decide not to take some of them because they didn't fit your criteria.

She isn't a key worker but her work needs to be done. So she does it in the evening and gets up at 5am.
Well bully for her. I can't do all my work while the DCs are asleep (and if I did, I wouldn't get enough sleep myself to cope with them during daylight hours).

I have to say @drspouse I would have thought quite a few schools would have said no to your DD going in. You are not a key worker and you are at home. There are many parents who are working from home and trying to look after young children. There are many threads on here about how parents are struggling to juggle everything but they are not entitled to a place at school simply because it is hard to do everything at once.

Anyway, the point of this thread has rather been missed here - very sorry OP that it has been derailed.

If his role wasn't vital, he'd hardly be classed as a KW, now would he.

We had marketing call centre staff claim they were key workers. They had letters from their employer stating they were. The government list is so broad that many jobs are apparently included.

I'm not deciding who is and isn't a key worker. I'm asking you to appreciate the first bullet point of the guidance is that pupils should be at home if at all possible.

Your role clearly isn't vital if you aren't a key worker.

@ineedaholidaynow it's not up to them to say no, or not.
I'm not saying that because I'm "entitled", I'm saying that because I am very much not a fan of schools deciding they know better than the law.
Not all KWs will choose to send their DCs to school - some will have to work away from home but still won't send them because they have other childcare, or the DCs are old enough to stay home alone. Schools have been asked to offer childcare to all KWs' children. Some may have to decline on grounds of capacity/staff numbers, rejig, take on supply, move to a hub system, but it's NOT up to them to pick and choose and redefine KW. As it turns out, it seems that many KWs are able to find other arrangements and most schools are much less full than feared. But also, many teachers are sick or self-isolating so obviously the local picture will vary. So some schools WILL have to say "sorry, we cannot take any child, even if they are vulnerable".

Our DS former school decided they knew better than his EHCP and the law which is why we are taking them to a disability discrimination tribunal. Again, schools can't decide they know better than the law.

Anyway the original OP has been well and truly derailed - we as a family are very grateful for the work and feedback that DS school is giving him as we are able to use some of it for DD too! So thank you to all the teachers who are doing that.

I'm giving my children the work the teacher sets and then extending their learning by setting my own once they've finished it. Feels a good compromise.

OK, so @Hercwasonaroll now knows who is REALLY a KW.

Call centre staff ringing people up to ask if they want double glazing? Or call centre staff taking confidential information from UC applicants, which has, what, seen 10x the normal number of applications?

How exactly are you able to decide this?

I repeat: it's not up to you to decide who is a KW. It's not up to you to decide that you have to have two KWs in a family to have a place. The government has already decided this. Yes, they've decided that only when a child HAS to be in school they should be in school. My DS' SW decided that he should be. So he's going part time.
It IS up to teachers/HTs to organise staffing, work out how to arrange classrooms, tell parents that unfortunately the school is closed, sort out hubs, decide what their childcare offer consists of, decide what should be provided for home learning, check on vulnerable pupils, etc. etc. For this we are very grateful.

But redefining regulations - no, please don't.

Anyway, this thread has been derailed as I said and we're very grateful for teachers like the OP especially since DD has enjoyed doing some of the work set by DS teachers! So I'm hiding it now because like my DH I'm very fed up of the "not a real KW" brigade.

I'm getting about half my class responding to maths, about a third do english and about a fifth have bothered with any topic. It's grown over the last few weeks. I've had to set fairly simple work as lots of my class access through phones and send me pictures of answers. I set it on classroom and mark daily.
The bbc bitesize is ok but i'd already covered the syllabus to leave time for revision (year 6) so it's a recap exercise for them.

I'm struggling though, we all need the laptop and my two secondary kids have been swamped with stuff. We are just concentrating on maths, english, science for them though and struggling to just do that.

I hate teaching my own kids. Apparently when I use a "teacher voice" they strop off to their rooms. One appears to have regressed several years academically this year and the other is apparently such a genius she can do her English in ten minutes and doesn't need me to check it because WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BELIEVE ME!!!! And the pandemic is my fault.

I love my teenagers really. I think. Come back year 6, all is forgiven......