D.15 schools plan for remote learning

RoryMac

Just wondering what parents of kids in D.15 schools are seeing proposed for the school closures announced yesterday, my 2 are both in Coolmine Community School(1st & 5th year) and tbh in the last lockdown very little was done for the one who was then in Transition year. That may have been because there was a limited amount of work that could be done for Transition Year students remotely but she said it was similar for her friends that were in 5th year.

There were no live classes just emails from teachers with instructions on what work to do, very little in the way of correcting or checking work and little feedback on the work being handed in. I'm a little worried now that this closure will run for a few months and the one in 5th year especially will be way behind finishing the course work for the Leaving.

Anybody got any experience of what other schools in the area are doing and how they and their kids are finding it?

Bargain_Hound

Without going into specifics about the school, we're feeling the very same from our son in Primary.

So far we've been getting daily emails on googles platform with tasks for each subject, what's expected to be done & submitted and when it is due for submission. Me and my partner are both working from home (and very busy too) so feeling a lot of extra stress on top of us now essentially home schooling while managing the stress of working at the same time. It's like half a day of homework for a 6 year old.

What we find frustrating is the platform (Google classroom) and the various others being used (depending on the subject) are quite poor and very verbose. Half of the battle is figuring out how to use the specific platform and matching it with the task given. The written work submission process is also tedious as it involves taking multiple pictures of things each day and uploading them to google classroom.

No teacher:student interaction (Zoom call/classrooms).

eviltwin

Mine is doing a fair bit. Two zoom calls a day with their teacher and support staff. A daily email from the teacher. Everything is done via google classroom, the teachers have uploaded video lessons, PowerPoints and extras like guided meditations. My son is in 5th class and both classes are doing the same work so both teachers are sharing the work.

LorelaiG

Our school are using Seesaw and no other platforms for online learning. Work is sent each morning via seesaw and must be completed and uploaded. Teacher checks and sends feedback then.

KGLady

That must be very frustrating OP, hopefully the school will get better this term and improve the engagement for the sake of your teens.

Luckily our experience is very positive so far, last time we had all primary but this time we have one in first year. The Primary school is google classroom which we are all well used to as they were smart enough to maintain a piece of work submitted as homework once a week since sept. There are pre-recorded videos of their muinteoirí each day and some small pieces returned via google with feedback and comments the following day. Most importantly though, the leadership example set from the school is that the wellness of the children and family comes first, with recognition that its not going to be possible for everyone to achieve everything in a given day. It helps massively with the stress levels to be reassured that the teaching staff are confident the children will rapidly catch up once their back in school.

The Secondary school is new experience for us, but its an iPad school so the kids are familiar and comfortable working in a digital space from day one. They've a mix of remotely assigned work and a few live classes so far with feedback within a short period of time. They're following the school timetable which helps the mindset for our 1st Yr at least.

I'm telling ye lads, our D15 gaeloideachas is genuinely great, and in our experience its been so progressive not only with technology but also with a focus on nurturing the whole child. Awful times like this, its these small things which make it easier on kids and parents

RoryMac

To be fair the school seem to have planned things much better this time around and there is much better interaction. A good mix of live classes and assigned work with feedback from teachers. Students been asked to follow their original timetables for the classes and assigned work. Access to teachers for questions looks also to be much improved.

It has to be said the school staff are doing an excellent job especially as they are dealing with the tragic loss of one of their colleagues in recent days

daymobrew

Secondary school is doing some live classes.

Primary school is not. Pretty much same as first time - list a number of tasks and submit one. Last time feedback was very inconsistent (mostly poor). They said that they plan to teach new stuff but it's not yet clear how that will happen without live classes.