11 Plus Exams Forum

I should also say that DD’s school have cancelled year 10 exams in the hope that they can reclaim some lost teaching time. Year 11, assuming they’re all back on site, will kick off with exams in the autumn. Without any other full exam experience or mocks these will probably be a lot more stressful than normal, I think.

I’ve just read this tweet on line. Just one reason why I think virtual on line lessons don’t feature highly for most schools. Their students aren’t all guaranteed to be able to join in.

i think the worst moment of teaching while under quarantine was when one of my students apologized to me for submitting his weekly essays late and then went on to explain how he and his younger siblings share a single laptop and he only uses it after they've fallen asleep

In some cases parents will be also be trying to work from home.
I can remember trying to do my homework on the kitchen table with my mum trying to work round me, that was bad enough.

Tinkers wrote:I’ve just read this tweet on line. Just one reason why I think virtual on line lessons don’t feature highly for most schools. Their students aren’t all guaranteed to be able to join in.

i think the worst moment of teaching while under quarantine was when one of my students apologized to me for submitting his weekly essays late and then went on to explain how he and his younger siblings share a single laptop and he only uses it after they've fallen asleep

It is very worrying that so many people don’t understand that this is what happens in very many state schools. People airily making comments that their should be more online lessons etc have no clue about the lack of resources (in terms of equipment, space and time) that some children don’t have - let alone food. And then wonder why I am such a massive advocate for pupil premium spaces in grammar schools.

yoyo123 wrote:In some cases parents will be also be trying to work from home.
I can remember trying to do my homework on the kitchen table with my mum trying to work round me, that was bad enough.

Tbh if I didn’t have a pool laptop from work and DD was doing a lot of school work rather than just finishing off A level courses we too would be struggling a little. If we had more than one child it would even harder.

I know DDs school asked of any students would struggle with either getting access to IT equipment or getting internet access. They have provided school laptops to those who needed them.

I'm very lucky to have been provided with a laptop so I can work from home if needed. If not, our children would have been trying to share their laptop, alongside my husband who's working from home on our desktop. We have never previously had the need for multiple devices but it would have been a nightmare if I hadn't had the work laptop (and barely needed to work from home yet!)

kenyancowgirl wrote: It is very worrying that so many people don’t understand that this is what happens in very many state schools. People airily making comments that their should be more online lessons etc have no clue about the lack of resources (in terms of equipment, space and time) that some children don’t have - let alone food. And then wonder why I am such a massive advocate for pupil premium spaces in grammar schools.

I can understand why it might be asked once or twice but I think it’s been explained pretty clearly on this thread.

We have a laptop each but I’m still struggling with differentiating resources quickly enough because while one laptop might be faster it won’t be so good for PPTs. We had a meeting via Teams, which didn’t get started properly for 20 mins because we could hear each other but our line manager sounded like she was under water. And we’re adults (though perhaps the younger generation might have sorted out the problem much quicker).

I had a Skype call with my lead engineer yesterday and he sounded like Stephen Hawkins but also cutting in and out at one point. He tried reconnecting but I was laughing so much it was a while before we could discuss serious issues.

Tinkers wrote:I had a Skype call with my lead engineer yesterday and he sounded like Stephen Hawkins but also cutting in and out at one point. He tried reconnecting but I was laughing so much it was a while before we could discuss serious issues.

Yep. Just spent the best part of two whole days on Zoom, with a handful of human beings and what sounded like a houseful of budgerigars in a swimming pool. Various suggestions for what might deal with the interference failed. Added to which, practically every separate meeting (about a dozen in total) was accompanied by at least one person having difficulties with video, audio - or just plain getting connected in the first place.

At least it worked better than the Skype version six weeks ago...