Grim afternoon in Yorkshire.

So the schools will largely remain shut until at least the 8th March. Key worker parents can still send their kids into the classrooms. So it’s another 6 weeks of the full school online system. That means more structured lessons and class work. Hawklad has definitely noticed a difference. No being forgotten about. Actually getting some marks back and a few comments. That helps.

Hawklad hasn’t been in a classroom since the start of March. Apart from a few brief emails he has had no direct conversations with his teachers in that time. In fact those emails are often not from the teacher but the class teaching assistants. Without feedback he just can’t gauge progress and teachers can’t assess any learning issues.

It’s no better from a parenting point of view. The last face to face meeting with teachers was back in 2019. The school reports are issued at the end of each term. A one page sheet comprising of scores for behaviour, attendance and expected final attainment. No narrative from teachers. I’ve tried sending direct emails to teachers but with little real impact. So do the teachers have a grip on Hawklads learning needs. Do they really know what’s going well and whats not going well. That really matters.

I guess I must not be the only parent asking for a chance to directly speak to some of the teachers. School is now going to run an online parents evening. You can book a slot with a teacher. One problem. Each video call will be time limited to 4 minutes. After 4 minutes the call will automatically end. That’s not much time at all. Especially as it’s almost time to pick which subjects Hawklad will study for the final two years. Yep that’s a lot to discuss in just 4 minutes. Anybody who knows me will understand that it takes me about 4 minutes to just say ‘Hello my name is Kermit the Frog’.

49 thoughts on “4 minutes”

  1. Can you book more than one time slot? Or can you preface each meeting with an email of your questions and concerns?
    Here in The Far Far North of Alberta, we are now meeting some health specialists by phone, and probably will be starting to use Zoom or other chat rooms soon. After the first fiasco, I have learned to send my specialists emails with my current symptoms, concerns, issues, and questions. I number them 1 through whatever, and when the call is made we both have a copy of the email in front of us. We go through the list, he or she makes comments, suggestions, med changes, whatever. At the end there is an anything else period as the last item on my list. This has made our contacts much more efficient, with better understandings and outcomes. We miss nothing, unless I forgot to put it on the list, and failed to bring it up before we hang up–that is on me.
    The difference is, we take as long as we need. If I had only 4 minutes, I would probably be in dire distress, if not dead!
    But so it goes…

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  2. That’s terrible. The only thing to say is, “I need more time.” Ours are ten minutes long and that seems to be enough. But I guess I do have the ability to send an email to a teacher if there is a problem. Four minutes is too short.

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  14. Wow! That’s so crazy. I am not surprised though after reading some of the appalling things you’ve shared here. Perhaps make yourself a list and prioritize what you feel is most important – not easy because it’s all important. Wishing you all the best, and Hawklad too.

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