Headmaster says home-learning is detrimental for many children
School closures are having a detrimental effect on many children – according to the headmaster of a South Downs school attended by the man spearheading Britain’s fight against Covid.
Ben Evans, head of Windlesham House School – where chief medical officer Chris Witty was a pupil – says ‘on-screen’ remote learning places children under additional pressures and erodes confidence.
Windlesham House, near Washington, is Britain’s oldest prep school. Former pupil Professor Witty is one of the top advisors to the Government on what actions should be taken to try to stem the pandemic, such as school closures.
Mr Evans said: “Questions around low self-esteem and reduced confidence have always been areas of anxiety for some adolescent children, but what we are noticing right now, is how much this has been exacerbated by the impact of long term school closures.
“When children are at school, they are able to manage their interactions with their peers more easily. They choose the friends they want to spend time with and the way they present themselves to others is more natural.”
He added: “For those children who suffer with confidence issues, it may also be the case that they achieve success and with it, a greater sense of selfbelief in certain areas of school life that are currently not available to them while being home schooled.
“The worry is that this then has a knock on effect, when they do eventually return to school.”
The headmaster also feels that the onset of largely ‘onscreen’ remote learning places children under additional pressures linked to how they are perceived by their friends on screen.
He said: “Children may well feel that they are under the spotlight for long periods of time when on screen, in a way that they don’t when they are in class.”
He urged parents to encourage their children to become ‘camera savvy’ by using their camera for the start of the lesson and then periodically throughout but to allow some time ‘off screen’ to limit anxiety.
He said once children become engaged in a lesson, they worry less about their image or how they are coming across to others.
Parents should also, he said, ensure their children take regular breaks away from their screens and talk to teachers about how their children are feeling.