bbc.co.uk/news/education-53947982

[Apc2604]

//The learning gap between rich and poor pupils has grown by almost half since schools closed in March, teachers said.//

Why? Is this down to parenting? All children were set work by schools, rich and poor alike.

[Ellipsis]

300 is 28% of 1071, i.e. it represents the demand of a typical sized secondary school.

[jackthehat]

Do you have any idea of the number of children at some schools?
Let alone those in areas of deprivation?
There is no way the education budget could have run to ensuring that each child of school age across the UK had access to technology.

Mum having a PAYG phone does *not* equate to the household being sufficiently technologically connected to assume that they can cope with remote learning.

[youngmafbog]

I would expect there to be many reasons but those trying to blame the lack of internet should perhaps understand that in the country a good internet connection is still very difficult to get, right in those places where 'rich' people live.

I think on the whole I agree with APG.

[sevenOP]

APGrey > ~ \\\The learning gap between rich and poor pupils has grown by almost half since schools closed in March, teachers said.\\\

"How do teachers know this when the Schools have just opened this morning?" ~

(NFER) report - "On 20 March 2020, schools closed their gates to all pupils apart from vulnerable pupils and children of keyworkers. In June, primary schools opened to selected year groups (Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6) and secondary schools invited pupils in Years 10 and 12 to have at least some face-to-face contact with their teachers...
...Key findings
The curriculum learning gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has increased by 46 per cent
compared with July 2019." page 13

Estimates and teacher assessments ( as in recent Scottish and English exam results) were used in compiling the Report.

I am not keen on the word 'likely' either Polly, but am more trusting of British teachers using it than of British politicians. [; ¬

[sherrardk]

They are having Inset days now as until today teachers and other school staff were on their annual holiday. Pupils are at school for 39 weeks and staff are there for 40 weeks.

[zebo]

My son-in-law has worked since slightly before the official lockdown to establish and run his school's on-line presence, often from 7.30am until 8.30 pm. There has however been an official complaint against him from a female breeder because her son refused to do any of the work set and he did nothing about it!

[New Judge]

//They are having Inset days now as until today teachers and other school staff were on their annual holiday. Pupils are at school for 39 weeks and staff are there for 40 weeks.//

Well neither will reach anything like that target this year. It's absolutely scandalous that teachers should have "inset days" when children have been off school for six months. They could have had as many such days as they wished between March and July. No other business would get away with closing its operations to train its staff (with the possible exception of banks who open late one day a week so their staff can have an extra half hour in bed). Can you imagine Tesco's closing all its stores for a day every two or three months so that their staff can be trained? Utter nonsense.

Of course the far bigger elephant in the room is why the schools closed in the first place and, having done so, why it took them so long to reopen. But I've neither the time nor the inclination to go through that. I can only suggest that if the supermarkets had behaved like the schools we'd all have died of starvation.

[Ryzen]

One thing's for certain..the kids with parents who could be bothered will be sitting on their hands until Easter, whilst the 'can't be bothered ' kids attempt to catch up.

[Apc2604]

NJ. I worked in schools for years as senior admin person, and inset days were a total waste of time. Unfortunately, I had to attend. Nice relaxing days for teachers! They should be done away with.

[jourdain2]

2 points.
Firstly, a teacher at our local comprehensive (small, c.500) told me that only 9% of his lessons on line had been taken up by pupils. That makes a nonsense of 'no internet access' as a major excuse, really.
Secondly, when some pupils were invited back in June a T.A. acquaintance told me that the vast majority of the returnees were the children that the parents couldn't cope with and that they were bolshie and entitled and had been ruling the roost at home. There was also the much smaller contingent of studious pupils anxious to make up time - but these were the ones taking advantage of the on-line lessons at home.

As an aside, my granddaughter's school has just begun 2 hrs. of lessons on line until the return date next week with the aim of getting them gee'd-up so they hit the ground running and ready to move on. All schools could do that.

[Apc2604]

Two very interesting points Jourdain.

Thanks for all the contributions.

APG got best answer because I basically agree with her! ;o)

[fiction-factory]

For those who think Inset days are a waste of time and should be replaced by lessons, they may not have realised that inset days are taken in what used to be the teachers' holidays and so pupils will not ultimately miss out on any learning days because of Inset days.
Moreover, the main focus of inset days this week will Inset days this week be briefing all teachers on school policies and practices for social distancing, new setting arrangements, new staggered times for start/finish/breaks/lunch, new one way systems and lots of other details.
The term dates are published ages in advance so parents can plan holidays. Cancelling inset days and opening schools early would have caused chaos and no doubt been criticised by some on here as bad planning

[THECORBYLOON]

"Can you imagine Tesco's closing all its stores for a day every two or three months so that their staff can be trained? Utter nonsense."

The Baker Days are in addition to the legally required number of sessions/days for education.

As the schools would not have been open for the pupils to attend in the first place, they're not closed for the training.

[Apc2604]

I honestly think that certain things can be changed when circumstances change so drastically. One of them could be inset days. Flexibility is essential in these times, and the children should be back in school in a normal routine asap. Teachers and unions are blaming the Government . They should look to themselves more. They are safer than the majority of workers in this country.

[jno]

[i]only 9% of his lessons on line had been taken up by pupils. That makes a nonsense of 'no internet access' as a major excuse[i

why does it? How many of them actually had internet access?

[bednobs]

our LA would not do lessons on line. the excuse was "safeguarding" and I thought that meant the kids, but apparently they meant the teachers - so the children couldn't get any clues to where they live!
Surely that's not hard to overcome?

[dannyk13]

Apc //at £20 or less a month its affordable even to those on benefits//
Many of those on benefits cannot afford £20 per month(£5 per week) on top of the cost of buying a computer.I think you are being a bit harsh there.

[Togo]

//why does it? How many of them actually had internet access?//

In the texts.

//More than a quarter of pupils (28%) were reported to have no access to a laptop or computer at home.//

"only 9% of his lessons on line had been taken up by pupils" therefor 71% did. 62% couldn't be bothered. Why would they when they could get A* plus for doing nothing except wailing and blaming someone else.

[sherrardk]

13.08 pathetic and boring

[dannyk13]

sherrards //13.08 pathetic and boring//
Why?