NJH Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 1 hour ago, BellaF said: The Guardian article makes for very sad reading. Since schools have opened for more than key worker children, provision for my year 4 DD has dipped considerably, mostly practising times tables online / worksheets that take minutes to complete. Feel lucky that we have the interest in our DD's education and financial means to top this up but recognise that the majority are not so fortunate. Not a critical year for her though - must be much trickier for older ones. my experience of school is a long time ago ( i say my A levels 24 years ago today ) but i do remember being extremely frustrated at infant school by a curriculum which didn't stretch me , fortunately the junior school i attended did happily stretch pupils as well as having ring fenced SEN ( to the point where a few years after i had transferred to secondary they ended up with the head , previously effectively supernumerary taking a near full teaching load to protect the SENCOs time for SEN). immediately as lockdown struck there was a flurry of people buying laptops/ chromebooks and tablets but as as been discussed in this thread there are issues with avaibility of internet connection / latency never mind the issues of the costs of internet access for those relying on metered connection (i'mlucky in that i have cable internet at home and through contacts i get a preferential rate on my mobile account line rental ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 On 15/06/2020 at 11:28, Peony said: They all have a mobile phone Janet, it’s seen as essential, you are an outcast without one.. you can also dial in to webinars through a phone line without needing any internet What needs to be remembered though, is that those on the lowest incomes may have PAYG phones or a very basic contract with limited data. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliviaT Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 Hi I have 2 children - one in school and one in college. They couldn’t have had a more different experience. Youngest has had very little support. Work is set online but not handed in. They have been asked to mark it themselves wherever possible. Lack of feedback unfortunately can mean lack of motivation for the child. Very little teacher contact. Eldest is in college doing a combination of Btec and A levels. A level work is set online, handed in and marked. Btec practical is taught by live online dance and drama lessons. Everyone without a laptop was given one to borrow on the day they were sent home. Anyone with a lack of space, difficult home life or other such issues has been allowed to go into college. Parent / teacher communication has been excellent. Teachers are certainly facing huge challenges and it can’t be easy but I just thought I would share an example of how they have made it work with a lot of determination and being proactive. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 1 hour ago, taxi4ballet said: What needs to be remembered though, is that those on the lowest incomes may have PAYG phones or a very basic contract with limited data. Absolutely, but if they have the device, providing a mifi to access the internet is not too expensive. Can’t speak for all schools but being shut and not having to pay cover teachers etc must have reduced running costs for our school this term. great to hear how well your local college have done oliviaT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Peony said: Absolutely, but if they have the device, providing a mifi to access the internet is not too expensive. Can’t speak for all schools but being shut and not having to pay cover teachers etc must have reduced running costs for our school this term. great to hear how well your local college have done oliviaT It is too expensive for anyone who can’t afford it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 26 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said: It is too expensive for anyone who can’t afford it! For school to fund Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 Sadly in my role (not teaching) I meet parents who share a phone and often don’t have credit. In my location internet is very poor either via copper wire or via radio waves so I’m not sure how my kids would have coped if needed to study. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 7 minutes ago, Peony said: For school to fund Assuming that schools struggling for funding can afford the additional expense. And assuming all the other issues that have been mentioned such as a decent strength of internet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 As I said they’ve had savings; no exam invigilators, no cover teachers, reduced utilities, reduced paper and supplies, no subsidised school trips, staff on furlough......list goes on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 11 minutes ago, Peony said: As I said they’ve had savings; no exam invigilators, no cover teachers, reduced utilities, reduced paper and supplies, no subsidised school trips, staff on furlough......list goes on I think we are going to have to disagree on what schools can or cannot do during lock down. We have gone way off the original topic. Far from being furloughed the primary school that one of my friends works (teaches) at was having to provide cover for 7 days a week and right through the Easter Holidays and may well have to provide some sort of cover through the summer holidays. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 Well done to them, haven’t heard of any others providing that, they must be a great place to be involved with. I hope they are truly appreciated by the pupils and their families. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewel Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 All the primary schools in my area opened through the Easter holidays for key workers. The high school staff have been working flat out trying To get the gcse & A level Grades & rankings done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 2 hours ago, Peony said: As I said they’ve had savings; no exam invigilators, no cover teachers, reduced utilities, reduced paper and supplies, no subsidised school trips, staff on furlough......list goes on With all due respect, state schools and academies are not going to fund their students' mobile phone and internet bills in a million years. Those employed in government-funded essential services such as the NHS, the Armed Forces and education cannot be furloughed. It would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul anyway. The overwhelming majority of school staff are not furloughed. There are explicit rules, which only apply in certain circumstances, and only to certain staff, for instance when supplied by an outside agency. I have had the pleasure of auditing school funds in the past (both primary and secondary). Large quantities of supplies and subsidised pupil places on school trips are funded not by the LEA via the main school budget, but by the individual school's own charitable fund, much of which is raised by the PSA. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixiewoo Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 All primary schools and high schools in my area have been open every week day since they were shut ... including school holidays and Bank Holidays. DD has had a lot of work, and support from her school, and as a yr 10, is back in school for 1 day a week, in a small bubble, till end of term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 (edited) 27 minutes ago, Pixiewoo said: All primary schools and high schools in my area have been open every week day since they were shut ... including school holidays and Bank Holidays. DD has had a lot of work, and support from her school, and as a yr 10, is back in school for 1 day a week, in a small bubble, till end of term. I have heard about these bubbles at school (neither of my DDs eligible to go back to school until at least September). How does that work? Does it mean that effectively the households of each child that is in a small bubble at school are ostensibly together in one giant bubble? Edited June 16, 2020 by MAK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixiewoo Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 2 minutes ago, MAK said: I have heard about these bubbles at school (neither of my DDs eligible to go back to school until at least September). How does that work? Does it mean that effectively the households of each child that is in a small bubble at school are ostensibly together in one giant bubble? Sort of I guess ... but for us; DH has been at work whole time, so mixing with people, and I work in early years, so mixing with little people who can't/ don't do social distancing! Plus, DD is not in a bubble with any of her particular friends, so we don't know the other families and how anyone else is behaving. We just have to carry on as we have been. ... it could possibly be an immense bubble! As far as i understand, when DD is at school, she only mixes ( at a distance ) with those in her 'bubble'. Outside of school, they are just asked to continue to observe social distancing, wash hands etc. Not sure that's answered your question or not! Sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 Some good provision, some not, some open, some not, some online teaching, some not. It was a friend who works in a school who said she was furloughed but may be zero hour contract or similar I don’t know. As Janet says let’s agree to disagree and move on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 Our village school has been open throughout for children of key workers - though actually there have only between 3 and 8 children attending according to my neighbours (2 of the children are theirs) but obviously not with a full staff. When the school opened to reception and year 1, the key worker children were kept in their own bubble and no mixing between year groups or with the key worker group. My neighbours youngest is reception class but had to stay in the key worker bubble. That was when school first opened - I know from this week they have had a lot more children returning and more year groups. Initially less than half of reception and year 1 went back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 14 minutes ago, MAK said: I have heard about these bubbles at school (neither of my DDs eligible to go back to school until at least September). How does that work? Does it mean that effectively the households of each child that is in a small bubble at school are ostensibly together in one giant bubble? The bubbles are set by the school according to their conditions (size of classroom) up to maximum of 15. Most seem to be smaller than this- 8 or so due to space. They are not allowed to mix with other bubbles, the staff member in charge of the bubble can only be with one bubble and they can’t change classrooms.( In secondary some schools are having teachers change classroom for specialist subjects) because they would need to do a deep clean between (not sure exactly what is involved there but a lot are shutting for a day to do the deep clean) they can’t really have part class for part the week and swap over. Have heard of a school opening 5 days a week but majority aren’t, I presume they must have secured weekend cleaners as I don’t think the deep clean is optional. Some schools have said children are not allowed to a separate childminder ‘bubble’ and a school ‘bubble’. If you don’t follow social distancing etc outside school and they find out you forfeit your place. So they have put in a lot of measures to preserve the bubbles. It’s different for every school according to set up but all the kids I know who have gone back are really enjoying it and the teachers are making it a positive experience. Unfortunately as a teacher or TA is needed for each bubble it means the kids who are at home don’t get much contact, as the staff are with the kids in school. If yours aren’t back until September I suspect there will be a big re- think over summer as the current system can’t accommodate all the children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 (edited) 32 minutes ago, Pixiewoo said: Sort of I guess ... but for us; DH has been at work whole time, so mixing with people, and I work in early years, so mixing with little people who can't/ don't do social distancing! Plus, DD is not in a bubble with any of her particular friends, so we don't know the other families and how anyone else is behaving. We just have to carry on as we have been. ... it could possibly be an immense bubble! As far as i understand, when DD is at school, she only mixes ( at a distance ) with those in her 'bubble'. Outside of school, they are just asked to continue to observe social distancing, wash hands etc. Not sure that's answered your question or not! Sorry! It has. We were wondering why parents dropping their kids off at the school near us weren't social distancing but I imagine it's probably that they are all in the same extended bubble via their kids. Just wish I could explain it to my mother, who lives over a hundred miles away, and isn't able to hug or see her children and grandchildren because it makes more sense for her to join in a bubble with her neighbours and she can only choose one option to stay within the rules. Edited June 16, 2020 by MAK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 A lot of the regulations about bubbles are very recent. However everyone should be social distancing unless they’re in the same family group! Even the kids within the bubble are expected to stay 2 metres from each other (apart from the youngest children who are still encouraged to stay apart!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 This has gone way off topic and is going around in ever decreasing off-topic circles. I think the time has come to shut it down. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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