Lockdown learning - is your school offering live lessons? Post Reply

[Jess from Mentor Education]

Dear Goldhawk,

We speak with parents with children at lots of local schools, private and state, and across the board they are seeing a much more thought-through and comprehensive learning offering this lockdown. Nearly all schools are offering live lessons every day and tech platforms are being used much more effectively. The government were much more prescriptive about what they expected schools to provide this time round and obviously schools had more internal expertise and have had more practice at it.

In the first lockdown we saw parents tearing their hair out trying to keep children occupied with only a few worksheets from school, but now parents have the opposite problem...children spending hour upon hour on devices, barely getting any fresh air because of the weather and really feeling lonely after missing their friends for so long. We recommend you watch out for signs of stress and anxiety and get them out in the fresh air as much as possible. Maybe plan some trips to different parks or commons (staying local) to mix things up at the weekend.  It's not long until half term thank goodness!

Jess at Mentor Education 
www.mentoreducation.co.uk
hello@mentoreducation.co.uk
 

[Lulubear]

I'm interested to find out how the 'live' lessons are going as my children's school (private) is not offering much in the way of 'live' teaching in the lower years (KS!/pre-prep stage).  Is live learning working well at those schools that are offering it to the younger children?  Our maths and english (and most other lessons) are pre-recorded and need a lot of parent involvement to make them effective which means full days of sitting with a child if they are doing all the lessons.  Just wondering how engaging and effective you are finding live lessons for younger children (e.g reception, year 1, year 2) if your school is providing them?

[Nannysept2019]

My charges are in a state school
Currently they have one live a day
And 5 pre recorded lessons / self directed

[astro]

Hi,

My two children are at a local private school. The provision is excellent in many ways and we are happy overall, they have interactive zoom with their class at least twice a day and then additional zooms or prerecorded sessions for music, art, sport etc. BUT to a previous posters point, it does not mean that parental involvement isn’t required. Perhaps it is the age (reception and Yr2) but it takes a lot of work from an adult to firstly provide support with the technology, log in to the zoom calls/ print/ log on to reading websites etc; and then secondly to support with the completion of the work after the zoom calls are finished.

Most parents I know are burnt out and exhausted!

[tomsmum2008]

My youngest is at state school - St Boniface and the offering this time around is MUCH better.
A typical day is as follows:
 - 9.00: Live registration
 - 9.30: Watch 10 min maths explanation - then do work sheet
 - 10.00: Live maths lesson to go over worksheet with teacher
 - 10.30: Times table rocks online game
 - 11.00: Phonics games online
 - 11.30: Live English Lesson
 - 12.30: English worksheet/writing etc
 - 13.00: Reading independently 
 - 14.00: Pre-recorded lesson of another subject on rotation (Geography/Science etc) and a piece of homework

So, pretty much a full day of learning, good teacher pupil interaction and all lessons are recorded so you can catch up later if you can't attend live.  I do find however that I do need to give quite a fair bit of assistance especially with the technology - Logging on, editing google docs etc.

[Moonlightdawn]

Our prep school in Wandsworth is also offering live learning throughout the day. There are no recorded classes.

We are very grateful but it takes infinite resolve and determination on the parent(s)' part especially with young children. Exactly as Astro described.

You have to sit there with each child as the lessons are unfolding live, there's no respite. If you yourself have your own work zoom calls and deadlines, it makes you doubt your own sanity after a while...

[ThamesChristianSchool]

Thames Christian School (in Clapham Junction) has a full timetable as per usual with live and interactive lessons all day.  Live tutored registration and PSHE sessions, live assemblies twice a week - with guest speakers, live fitness classes and clubs (including cookery, photography, origami, filmmaking, exercise, and the school newspaper club, with new clubs beginning after half term)
We run a Thames Community competition each week with prizes, themed weeks like 'Science week' with live experiments in the lab, live careers lunches and panels (with professionals from a variety of industries) Thames Radio station over lunch break and more! (using googlemeets & googleclassrooms) The staff, pupils and parents have been amazing! (laptops are provided for anyone who needs them)

[CamCB]

Thames Christian school is providing an impressive range of teaching during lockdown.  There seem to be some really engaging, fun and interesting assemblies, (that are being discussed by the whole family over lunch), and some brilliant ways of getting the students out and about for projects, like photographing local buildings and creating human organs for biology out of card and tape etc.  Each day seems really varied and although it's not nearly as great as being able to go to school each day, the children are chatting regularly after school in groups and one to one so the social side sounds pretty healthy too.  I regularly hear teachers and students having a good laugh together in lessons, the atmosphere is relaxed and purposeful.  We all hope that life will return to something more normal when it can, but for now it is a really good solution.