Learning at home without tears
TEACHERS, PARENTS AND EXPERTS GIVE ADVICE ON HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF REMOTE LEARNING…
Principal of Havelock Academy in Grimsby, Emma Marshall is supporting pupils with “cheer-up” videos, weekly welfare calls and a structured timetable of lessons.
A mum-of-two as well as a principal, Emma Marshall knows what parents are going through as their children embark on remote learning.
“I understand why parents are concerned,” she says. “I’m a parent myself. My kids are 12 and 17. My son is in the middle of his A-levels and is hopefully due to be off to university in September. Thankfully he’d already really worked for his mocks. But now he’s a bit like, ‘Well, I’m not doing my exams’, so I have to remind him to keep working.”
Emma lists resilience as one of the key things young people need as they navigate this tricky time – and her school provides structure as well as practical help in terms of technology. “We’re making sure we build their resilience, so some of the skills we’re now looking at honing could be important life skills in a way that perhaps the more traditional curriculum doesn’t address,” she says. “Resilience is really important. We launched our ‘Havelock Hive’ which is built on a beehive idea, with everybody working together. It supports team spirit – it’s something we dreamt up in lockdown one and now it’s become a big part of our curriculum.
“All of us are learning something new at the moment. For me it’s technology – I mean, wow! I couldn’t do what I’m doing now without it. That’s the same for all of us. I think if we’d have told the kids in lockdown one that they’d be doing their lessons all day on their PlayStation they would have laughed at us! But they’re doing it and it’s amazing.”
We’re helping kids to hone important life skills