I do not doubt getting a pupil who is officially self isolating to catch up can be a major pain, in the same way as catching up a child who before the pandemic, might have been off with a illness. I am talking about online lessons not being given to whole classes who are not in school. My sister had repeatedly spoken of this and I saw it for myself for the first time three weeks ago, with another of her sons, whose whole year group had been sent home and whom she had asked me keep an eye on for part of the day. No online lessons for my nephew in the morning and at lunchtime, his computer screen showed all his classmates present for the lesson, but no teacher. The teacher logged on 20 minutes late and after 15 minutes the lesson was stopped. I get there can be technical problems, but this wasn't the first time it had happened, nor has it been the last.
Some of child 2's on line lessons at college are also suffering. For example, lecturers not logging on on time; lecturers deciding to have a tea break part way through the tutorial. She even has one whose tutorials are frequently interrupted by the lecturer's dog barking and generally making a nuisance in the background.
Would schools and colleges seriously tolerate this if lessons/ lectures were in person?
And whilst I don't have teaching experience, it is very close to home. My wife was a teacher for over 30 years and was a SENCO for the majority of that time in three different schools. And child 1 is an assistant head and an LA specialist maths teacher, whose school had to stay open during the lockdown. Some of the comments she makes after visiting schools since September echo what my daughter and nephews are finding.
