I am about to embark on teaching thirty children from inner-city Leeds, remotely from my kitchen. I sure as hell know where I and they would rather be going today.

I can’t make guarantees because I think I’m going to have my own hands very full, but if you have any questions about the work your child has been set (as in how to complete it, rather than offering criticism) or how to access certain online materials, give me a shout and I’ll do my best to support you.

Online stuff might include:

Mathletics
TRRS (TimesTablesRockStars)
BugClub
GrammarBug
Pobble
Pobble365
SpellAnywhere
PurpleMash



Thanks and very best wishes for you. I hope your children have got all they need to make a good go of this.

Best wishes

John
(Y6 teacher)

May your God go with you, John !

jdrobbo wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 23, 2020 8:07 am

I am about to embark on teaching thirty children from inner-city Leeds, remotely from my kitchen. I sure as hell know where I and they would rather be going today.

I can’t make guarantees because I think I’m going to have my own hands very full, but if you have any questions about the work your child has been set (as in how to complete it, rather than offering criticism) or how to access certain online materials, give me a shout and I’ll do my best to support you.

Online stuff might include:

Mathletics
TRRS (TimesTablesRockStars)
BugClub
GrammarBug
Pobble
Pobble365
SpellAnywhere
PurpleMash



Thanks and very best wishes for you. I hope your children have got all they need to make a good go of this.

Best wishes

John
(Y6 teacher)

My daughter is in the same boat but she is a Secondary School teacher in north London. She doesn't think for one minute that her pupils will self isolate or that the parents will enforce it and also believes that knife crime will increase. Apparently the Harrow Road Boys have got beef with another gang (as some graffiti on a wall suggests) and it is now all likely to kick off.

All the very best John, my Daughter is a school teacher and I'm really not sure as to what she'll be facing today and onwards.

Do your best for the kids, and ever hopeful we and they will emerge from this healthy, educated and well.

Andy

I don't want to hijack your thread JD but Joe Wicks is putting a PE lesson on line every day at 9.00.

My 3-year old is lumbering up.

https://www.thebodycoach.com/blog/pe-with-joe-1254.html

TheFamilyCat wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 23, 2020 8:37 am

I don't want to hijack your thread JD but Joe Wicks is putting a PE lesson on line every day at 9.00.

My 3-year old is lumbering up.

https://www.thebodycoach.com/blog/pe-with-joe-1254.html

Nice one TheFamilyCat, I've sent this one to my Daughter in the Midlands who has twin 9 year olds, they've already been out to a local field and had a Star Wars battle, but a little more exercise won't hurt.

Mine is currently doing the Joe Wicks PE lesson. Her school is doing an hour of online lessons later in the morning. School are in a tricky dilemma because it’s Independent and they have an added risk of parents demanding their money back next term, which could make the school go bust.

You're certainly going to be kept busy, John! I've been out of teaching for a while now but have been getting up to speed again to help out with Home Schooling of 5 Primary Age grandchildren so will gladly help out with any queries and ideas too.

We have been doing maths with mine for the last half an hour, I'll tell you what its early days but I'm well enjoying this Didn't realise I was so good at Maths.

In all seriousness, Its the Mrs that does all the home work and spelling with ours as I'm always working when I get home from work. (Sometimes an excuse) Its nice to spend this time with your children.

Thanks folks,

We’re going to use the PE slot at that time two or three times each week. All kids have got about three and a half hours worth of learning to do each day, which is accessed through our website and our secure forum. Pleasingly, 16 have already said, ‘Hi’ today.

How is everyone getting on?

think it has been difficult for everyone and discussed school issues with my daughter in-law yesterday via FT, she has been classed as essential and asked to continue teaching, they have a 2 and 4 year olds so now they need to go to school also as my son is classed as an essential worker.

Listening to her the school where she works had over 50% of the children apply through parents to go to school as they believed they were both or single parents believed they were essential workers. Friday afternoon they contacted every parent who applied for the children to be essential and some of the excuses were pitiful, one guy explained what he did and when question it was ascertained what he did was essential, when then questioned what his spouse did she was a homemaker!! In the end the children accepted was reduced to 52, so I didn't understand out of this school why she would have been selected as one of the teachers who had to work but she did mention quite a few teachers were already off sick but...…..

It is very difficult time for so many and I certainly class those having to stay home and home school in that bracket so it is so good to see those doing the online things to help, thanks to all the teachers and all the essential workers, you are recognized

Very helpful thread. Thank you. Might take you up on this kind offer.

So far today, I've helped out with work on Fractions and an English Comprehension via Facetime. Both pieces of work were quite challenging but it didn't take me long to get back in to the swing of things even though it's sometime since I have been in the classroom. I also joined in the Joe Wicks workout and I think I'll suffer for that tomorrow.

jdrobbo wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 23, 2020 8:07 am

I’ll do my best to support you

could you help me with the following problem jdrobbo?:

**SPOT THE BALL** End of Season Cup - ROUND 1

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

fill in the correct answers...and I'll do the rest!

thanks!

No!

Hats off to you, Sir.

Fantastic gesture.

There if you need it, although I might not be much help tomorrow. I’ve been called into work to support our Key Worker children...my shift wasn’t until Thursday but the other three members of our senior leadership team are diabetic (one) or have self-isolating family members.

That means I’m working at school with a group of 5, 7,9,10 and 11 year olds, whilst at the same time, monitoring my own class progress remotely with an iPad. Not ideal when they have so many different tasks set but needs must.

I got this....I think ... I hope

My boy is in Yr1 and is going in today for 3 days a week. I’d like to have kept him home but myself and my partner are both key workers. We really appreciate what the teachers are doing. You’re certainly going above and beyond. The kids are lucky to have you.

Day 1 will have gone well for all.

Day 20 will be more. Like

I see this as an opportunity for my kids. They certainly do not get one (or even two) to one support all day whilst they are at school. The school had clearly been preparing for this lockdown for some time and the home and online learning packs they have provided are excellent (and will be continually updated). Obviously school is better for a host of reasons, but I’m expecting some rapid gains using this model of learning.

Thanks for the nice comments. Two days in and 22 of my 30 children have been regularly downloading their daily timetable from the website and accessing the secure blog for support when they need it. All learning is geared around them being able to do it without parental intervention. Of the 8 who I haven’t noticed, I called them up whilst I was at work today. Six of them had fully engaged, but chosen not to communicate through the blog (since then, three have added some examples of work). Only two children haven’t followed the learning set. I’d take that.

Home schooling is going well, two now in detention and one teacher sacked for drinking on the job!!

no way I could do it and my hats off to everyone doing it.

My daughter is Deputy Head at a school in the Preston area. They decided to open their school rather than 'cluster' with others. She is in most days (on a rota system) and of course she is now considered a Key Worker.

Day one was ok, though in her words 'the child who had both parents sat at home on the sofa had their lovely child returned to them'!

By far the biggest fear they have is 'burn out'. Planning work for these unusual times isn't simple. With schools expecting to be open over the Easter hols (because key workers won't be on holiday) it puts an extra strain on them all. Yeah, very difficult and stressing times.

How is everyone getting on with their little ones?

Hopefully their schools have prepared them with lots of resources which they can be working through without the need for much parental intervention. It’s not homework; it’s schoolwork and as such, they shouldn’t need you say with them all the time, especially those who are KS2 age.

I understand about staff burnout. I now am one of six ‘fit’ or ‘capable’ staff out of nearly forty. I’m the only senior leader left, so I worry what might happen next.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.


You’re all doing an amazing job.


Most importantly, just make sure that your kids are safe and smiling!


J

I think is a really good opportunity for children to have learning experiences beyond the very narrow National Curriculum. Even if the schools don't back until September, it won't have a major impact on their long term Education and they are all in the same situation. It could be one of the positives of this dreadful situation.

Everyone ok?

Going well so far, my 1st day of this. Teaching my 8 year old at the moment about longitude and latitude. Mixture of geography, going out for a short walk and then bringing it together with her writing all about what she has learnt so far. By the way I tried Joe wicks for the 1st time today. That was tough, but my body felt the better for it at the end. Tomorrow afternoon it's French and we will be facetiming my daughter in northern France. It's all about being creative and making it fun as well. I'll get back to it now

Sounds fab and like you’re being very creative.

Have the children been sent home with plenty of work they can be getting on with too? J

jdrobbo, what are your thoughts on kids learning things beyond their age?

For instance my nephew is 11 next month and goes to high school in September. I've been thinking about suggesting to my sister to get him reading things that he won't be taught until he's in high school to get a step ahead.

TheFamilyCat wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 23, 2020 8:37 am

I don't want to hijack your thread JD but Joe Wicks is putting a PE lesson on line every day at 9.00.

My 3-year old is lumbering up.

https://www.thebodycoach.com/blog/pe-with-joe-1254.html

To quote a song from about the mid 90's (I think) "I hate you so much right now"!

I tried this yesterday and can barely walk today

How the hell do kids do these workouts? I knew I wasn't in prime condition, but thought I was in OK shape until this morning.

FactualFrank wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 26, 2020 4:08 pm

jdrobbo, what are your thoughts on kids learning things beyond their age?

For instance my nephew is 11 next month and goes to high school in September. I've been thinking about suggesting to my sister to get him reading things that he won't be taught until he's in high school to get a step ahead.

Nothing wrong with accessing the Year 7 curriculum but whilst being mindful of what the children have been sent home with.

I have two year six children living next door and they have been sent home with hardly anything. They’ve been in their garden for six hours each day kicking a football against a fence.


My year six children are going in the website each day, pulling off a timetable structured to the same timings each day and downloading pdf links for each activity.

They then have folders full if coded resources that they’ve been sent home with (eg, a specific geography task might be coded H13) and if that’s in the timetable for the day, I know that all children are doing that task rather than it being a free-for-all.

From 8:30-3:30 I also monitor our secure class forum, where children can discuss activities that they’re doing and take photos of their work.

I’ve also been able to use the forum to set up quick quizzes and challenges so I’d like to think that they’ll still be very much year seven ready, if they continue to follow what I have put in place for them.

It has been hard work but I feel I have achieved momentum and with 29 out of 30 of my kids fully engaging for the first four days, I’ll take that. I’ve called the other parent and their child is doing the work, but choosing not to communicate through the blog.

Hope they’ve got plenty to be doing. It worries me that many parents seem to have been left to teach their children. This shouldn’t be the case. You should be able to crack in with your own duties around the house...if you have children 7+ that is.

But yes, by all means look into the KS3 curriculum.


John

Yes jdrobbo, she came home with a full pack of stuff to do, a reading book and lots of online app links including an app which teachers and pupils can post to it each day with their work. Her school have done her proud.

I put this together for the kids I teach. I teach year 5 but the links all have things on suitable for children in every year at primary school.

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-5/ White Rose. Absolutely fantastic for maths. I would definitely recommend using these resources!

https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/free-hom ... ing-packs/ A superb website with a huge variety of activities. There will definitely be enough on here to keep you all very busy!

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/ All parents and carers are eligible for free membership while school are closed. This websit has resources for EVERYTHING. To access the free offer, you will need to visit www.twinkl.co.uk/offer and log in as a new to Twinkl member using your email address, set up a password and use the code: UKTWINKLHELPS

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxW1X ... TYlRfn6rYQ There will be daily P.E. lessons on here provided by Joe Wicks. I'm sure most of you have seen these already, but these are fantastic!

http://www.pobble365.com/ Brilliant for helping with creative writing.

https://kahoot.com/home/ I'm not 100% sure on this one, but been told that it has lots of good games to help revision.

http://www.iseemaths.com/home-lessons/ Maths lessons everyday at 9am.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ Online games - some tablet friendly, but others need Flash.

https://www.purplemash.com/login/

https://ttrockstars.com/

Nicely done! That’s great for parents. Hope your class have accessed their learning well from home. Have a restful weekend.

Ps. I’m good friends with Henry, who runs Pobble. I know Simon, the other founder too. A great website.

It looks like most people are entertaining their kids by letting them post on the boris johnson watch thread

Damo wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:33 pm

It looks like most people are entertaining their kids by letting them post on the boris johnson watch thread

Is it working for your kids Damo

jdrobbo wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:28 pm

Ps. I’m good friends with Henry, who runs Pobble. I know Simon, the other founder too. A great website.

It's a great website. My class love it. Makes it so easy for them to plan a piece of creative writing.

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:58 pm

Is it working for your kids Damo

My kids are key workers pal

Damo wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 27, 2020 7:10 pm

My kids are key workers pal

Makes sense

My work with key workers and remote teaching has now come to an end with ‘normal service’ resining for my year six children.

Just wanted to thank all you parents for the effort you’ve gone to, to help your kids with their learning. I’ve heard some mixed responses about provision but I do hope that must homes have been able to access plenty of learning and that most importantly, your children remain safe and happy.

J

jdrobbo wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:55 pm

My work with key workers and remote teaching has now come to an end with ‘normal service’ resining for my year six children.

Just wanted to thank all you parents for the effort you’ve gone to, to help your kids with their learning. I’ve heard some mixed responses about provision but I do hope that must homes have been able to access plenty of learning and that most importantly, your children remain safe and happy.

J

The teaching profession deserve a lot of credit, my grandchildren have enjoyed the variety and inventive creativity demonstrated by their teachers, my daughter and son in law are very appreciative. A member of my family is a teacher and I hope people realise it hasn't been a holiday it's been hard work. Obviously each parent will decide if they want to send their children back to school but some of the schools I have worked for these last few weeks are taking great strides to ensure staff and pupils are as safe as possible.

Yes agreed, a strange time and I’m pleased that my school has allowed parents to make a constructive decision them self, ask questions that need to be asked etc. Sadly for me, only ten of my children are back for now, meaning teaching , as well as providing online content. I hope more feel safe to come back with time.

Hi everyone,

Just a note to say that I hope your children have all settled back in and enjoyed their time at school this (or last week). Lots of changes to routine no doubt, but I hope you feel that they’re safe and happy, back in their school community.


All the best.

John

jdrobbo wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 10, 2020 3:03 pm

Hi everyone,

Just a note to say that I hope your children have all settled back in and enjoyed their time at school this (or last week). Lots of changes to routine no doubt, but I hope you feel that they’re safe and happy, back in their school community.


All the best.

John

Top post mate! I don't have kids but if I did I would appreciate this!

Went past the COVID testing centre in Burnley this morning. Very long queue round the car park and many of the adults had children with them of school age which was quite worrying if they were there to get tested.

ralphc wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 10, 2020 3:51 pm

Went past the COVID testing centre in Burnley this morning. Very long queue round the car park and many of the adults had children with them of school age which was quite worrying if they were there to get tested.

Wouldn't read too much into it.
The testing centre in Burnley is for testing people without covid symptoms

jdrobbo wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 10, 2020 3:03 pm

Hi everyone,

Just a note to say that I hope your children have all settled back in and enjoyed their time at school this (or last week). Lots of changes to routine no doubt, but I hope you feel that they’re safe and happy, back in their school community.


All the best.
John

My nephew started high school yesterday, so I went around yesterday to see how he got on - he seemed to be buzzing and says he loved it.

I sense a lot of kids will be so much happier now they're back at school.