Children’s education across the globe is being significantly disrupted by the ongoing COVID-19 Virus outbreak, whether as a result of school closure; postponement and/or cancellation of exams for school entrance assessments, GCSEs, A level and IB; or merely because of the disruption to daily life and the anxiety that this is causing families everywhere.
I have been in contact with a large number of you over the last couple of weeks with children of all ages studying in both the UK and internationally, including families with students preparing for their new schools in the UK in September 2020. Based on things people have been asking me, here are a few suggestions for dealing with the education of your children at this challenging time for all:
· Utilise the revised learning schedules being offered by your child’s school. Some schools are undoubtedly doing better than others by being able to set up “live” lessons for when schools are shut, whilst others are more focused on time filling activities to keep students occupied. However, the Easter holidays are being used by many schools to prepare suitable programmes for the summer term, not just for where online teaching is required, but also to deal with the cancellation of public exams. So, give schools time to show you what they are offering before looking for alternative solutions.
· Have a view on longer term educational goals
o for younger students, see closed schools as a time to consolidate prior learning and take the time to extend breadth of their thinking (rather than just learning more).
o for students moving school at 13+ or 16+, the syllabus still needs to be covered so that they can make the most of their start at new schools in September. This is particularly true if they are moving country or educational system so use this hiatus in normal schooling wisely.
o for older students whose public exams have been cancelled, once internal assessments have been confirmed, they are best focusing on their proposed next level of study so that momentum is not lost over the next five months.
· As parents, don't think that home schooling can work in the same way as students learn at school. Education is far more than doing pieces of work, but involves interaction and thinking outside the box. I home schooled two of my children, then in Y4 and Y7, when we could not get school places for a term during one of our international moves, and even as a teacher, I learnt how much less it was about “doing schoolwork” than experiencing living.
How can we help you as you cope with the current situation? Firstly, whatever their next steps, once you know what is being offered, we can help your children by supplementing what their schools are providing. In addition, where schools are shut, and many younger students in particular are not getting the benefit of “live” online learning, Skype sessions with our tutors can add some interaction to their learning and be more focused on your child’s individual needs. Higher up, our tutors can help develop what schools are doing with sixth form and university subject taster sessions.
Finally, I am also aware that already the situation is causing job changes and possibly global moves that might not have been expected even a few weeks ago. I am helping families with schools’ advice for September 2020 (and beyond) and although the situation for schools is not normal, most are still being very open in their discussions so do contact me if you need more information regarding this.
Here’s hoping that the education for our children normalises in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, please let me know if I, or any of our tutors can help you in any way. However, fundamental to everything, I hope that everyone, stays safe and healthy at this difficult time.