[mrjonathanr]

Not quite. From Ru’s link

The new rules apply where at the end of the holiday year it has been “not reasonably practicable” for a worker to take some or all of this leave “as a result of the effects of coronavirus (including on the worker, the employer or the wider economy or society)”.

It is not clear what threshold must be met for it to be "not reasonably practicable" to take some or all of the holiday within the holiday year. The Acas: Coronavirus: advice for employers and employees suggests that, in their view, this could apply where a worker:

is self-isolating and too sick to take holiday before the end of their leave year
has been put on lay-off or furlough
has been required to continue working and could not take paid holiday.

[Falling Down]

Sorry if I pissed off anyone juggling childcare duties  I see my colleagues with young kids, both trying to work at home and it looks and sounds really hard work.

The FT this morning are reporting on parts of the lockdown release plan.  "UK offices set to remain closed for months : Working at home likely to become the norm as government lays out plan for easing lockdown". Link (paywalled but if you create an account you can read a number of free articles).

Not a surprise really but I'm going to have to think about how I'm working.  I had 57 scheduled Teams sessions this week and that's ignoring the unscheduled ones and phone calls on top.  It's driving me nuts.

[tomtom]

It’s just jealously Ben

The one advantage of the free version of zoom is that your meeting is cut at 40 min :D as happened (thankfully) to one of my colleagues in a meeting I was in this week 😂😂

[tomtom]

Interestingly Ben - my new boss (just moved roles) is normally super unavailable for meetings (lots of foreign travel - meetings in cafes that over-run etc.. always late as he’s in demand) has had time to call me twice this week (normally never) and for him being stuck in one spot - with his PA ruthlessly organising his online meetings is far more efficient (from the outside that is..)

[Falling Down]

That’s the thing though Tom.  It’s all so ruthlessly efficient.  I miss my inefficient downtime travelling between meetings and clients.  On my bike or the tube or train reading and reflecting.   I’ve been scheduling my own meetings or working sessions for 25 or 50 minutes so at least I have ten minutes between them.  It’s still so draining.

[Falling Down]

Still - don’t get me wrong I’m very, very grateful for a job and one that’s safe.

[tomtom]

True - I simply don’t have the volume of meetings to experience that. 57 in one week is nuts.

Though vc does make it easier to enforce bezos style meeting rules etc...

I’m thinking of videoing myself from my laptops camera in my home office - just doing random work faces etx.. then using it as a looped video background on Zoom. Like how they trick the bad guy in Speed. Expect it’s been done before!!

[Paul B]

That’s the thing though Tom.  It’s all so ruthlessly efficient.  I miss my inefficient downtime travelling between meetings and clients.  On my bike or the tube or train reading and reflecting.   I’ve been scheduling my own meetings or working sessions for 25 or 50 minutes so at least I have ten minutes between them.  It’s still so draining.

My Wife is having this issue. I find it quite interesting that we both did the same degree (same year, same uni, same result etc.), I spent the next 4 years in academia before joining the same company (side note: they actually put her as my line manager at one point  ) we've now both left and she's at a client organisation and I'm at a small consultant and our daily work is astoundingly different. She's on Teams all day, every day. I have one Teams meeting a fortnight just to check we're all still OK. Her inbox is outrageous, mine's a trickle.

[mrjonathanr]

I take the same registers and teach the same lessons at exactly the same times as my timetable from September. Except it’s via Teams from home, not in a classroom. And I run the climbing club via a series of video links.

[tomtom]

Well at least you’ve got a plan!! Nothing at our place yet!!

[Wil]

I take the same registers and teach the same lessons at exactly the same times as my timetable from September.

Does this actually work? I'm not teaching at the moment, but former colleagues are doing the same as you. It seems a really demoralising and unproductive way to work (they aren't being told to keep registers and mostly no kids are showing up).

It seemed to me to be a standard SLT plan to carry on as normal without stepping back and thinking critically about what would actually benefit pupils learning. Different subjects will obviously benefit from this in different ways though.

[moose]

That’s the thing though Tom.  It’s all so ruthlessly efficient.  I miss my inefficient downtime travelling between meetings and clients. 

That's a slight contrast to my life. I'm still working full time, visiting fire scenes etc as usual (albeit with social distancing) but doing all office work from home.  That means I have to do a lot of miscellaneous admin (scanning and backing up stuff, invoices etc.) our secretaries used to handle. Getting reports / emails peer reviewed when i can't just mooch into a colleague's office is a slow faff too. Basically I'm fully engaged but less productive.

[mrjonathanr]

Does this actually work? I'm not teaching at the moment, but former colleagues are doing the same as you. It seems a really demoralising and unproductive way to work (they aren't being told to keep registers and mostly no kids are showing up).

Yes, it works, though clearly not as good as classroom teaching. It's harder to monitor, spot who is coasting and mark work. I work in the independent sector, so there are different expectations to state schools. We follow up any absences from lessons (very rare, attendance is excellent), safeguarding still applies.

[Wil]

I work in the independent sector.

Glad to hear it's working ok. I suspect outside of A Level or higher ability groups in state schools it's not going to be very effective, but it will obviously depend on how teachers use it. I was really surprised that the school weren't asking teachers to keep track of who attended, that seems pretty basic from a safeguarding POV as you say.

[mrjonathanr]

We are fortunate there is good work ethic and kids generally enjoy lessons. I still do Spanish speaking lessons with KS4 for example. There is a feeling of relief all round that some degree of normal routine can be maintained I think.

My daughter is in a state primary. They didn't bother with much beyond a few weblinks before Easter- not impressed. Mathletics and Joe Wicks doesn't hack it as far as I am concerned. Since Easter they have provided a bank of decent lessons and resources following the SoW, but it is self-access, not taught, and down to us to provide structure. Some work is marked, some is self-marking, but no registers are taken. I dread to think how children in really vulnerable settings are coping.

[tomtom]

What lecturing I’ve done so far on Zoom has been pretty unsatisfying- none of the instant feedback or feel of the room you get from doing it face to face.

[mrjonathanr]

Totally, you can't see more than a few, although discrete speaking tasks at KS4 aren't so different. For KS3 I create/adapt a Powerpoint with instructions on massive banners like 'Read:' 'Listen'. They seem to like it. So it's more like monitored and supported study than usual didactic approach, with lots of ongoing chat messages and group calls at start and finish with individual calls in between.

[jwi]

What lecturing I’ve done so far on Zoom has been pretty unsatisfying- none of the instant feedback or feel of the room you get from doing it face to face.

Agree. It is fairly horrible. With advanced students I sometimes get asked questions, but with first years students it is like talking to a wall for much of the time. I was fortunate to have only 15 students for one class, and I abandoned much of the lecturing and replaced it with one-on-one meetings. I have the impression that the students appreciated it and that it was helpful for them, but it was of course a nightmare to have a full day of 15 min meetings.

[galpinos]

This isn’t impacting myself but a friend’s work are enforcing a policy which seems a bit draconian. I wondered if anyone knew the legalities (though I’m assuming it’s all above board due to the size of the company...).

We have been asked to take time off during lockdown, depending on the amount of available holiday days we have left. Our holidays run Oct-Oct and there was a concern that we are currently less productive, will all come back in the summer to work properly* when we could hit the road running and really crack on and then all staff take a month off.

That seems pretty reasonable to me as they need to keep the business functioning.

*Obviously now looking like that won't happen.