The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Home learning tough for parents
Home learning will be over for most children, with all primary school pupils back in class from today.
With children having had between six and 12 weeks of remote learning, depending on their age, we asked parents and carers about the provision and how we coped.
First, we asked whether parents agreed with the Scottish Government’s decision to close school to most children from the start of this term.
Most thought it was the right call, with 58.5% agreeing or strongly agreeing and 37% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing.
Balancing their children’s home learning with their own work or other responsibilities was a major challenge, with four out of five primary school parents saying they struggled.
We also asked secondary school parents whether they would like to see exams replaced by assessment in future, and almost half (43.9%) gave a resounding no.
Around a fifth (21.1%) would like exams ditched but just over a third (35.1%) were undecided.
Dundee High School has announced its back-toschool plans, which include senior pupils returning to full-time education from today.
The school informed parents of the temporary timetable, which will run until the Easter holidays.
Pupils in S4-S6 will have to observe strict two-metre distancing rules indoors.
Online learning is expected to continue for students in F1-F3, the equivalent of S1-S3, for most of the week.
However, they will spend two full days in school each week at the Mayfield sports facility on Arbroath Road.
The city centre campus has been prioritised for seniors in the final stages of schooling to allow them to prepare qualification coursework.
The school has welcomed the decision to have all pupils back in the classroom. Thanks to its remote learning programme, rector Lise
Hudson said pupils are on track with their learning and the 14-day period in school will be used to plug gaps in their knowledge.
She said: “The national phase two return to school has provided all schools with the challenge of trying to accommodate large numbers of pupils while at the same time operating within very important safety guidelines.
“We have worked hard to identify and put in place plans to address the varying issues which our young people will be facing while also ensuring that safety remains our number one overriding priority,” she added.
Across the city, pupils have been offered varying levels of classroom experience, with some pupils being offered half days and some schools offering junior secondary pupils one full day.
Primary school children in P4-P7 will also join the youngest pupils at schools today.