WHAT THE PARENTS SAY...

PARENTS have contacted the Western Mail with concerns about how much schoolwork their children are being sent, and are doing, during lockdown. They wanted to remain anomymous because they are worried their children may be affected and also because they realise they pressure schools are under and don’t want to “name and shame”.

This is what two mothers told us:

■ “I have two children aged 11 and nearly 14 at primary and secondary. “They have been sent work, which takes a couple of hours to do each day and is never marked.

“I am worried that they have fallen behind and will continue to fall behind with schools still not re-opening fully next term.

“My older child is approaching GCSE exams and there are no live online lessons. The schools and their teachers have been so absent I cannot believe it.

“My oldest is in year eight and has just chosen her GCSE options. She is studious, but she gets so little work sent it takes around two hours to finish.

■ “My daughter in year six has some work emailed but gets no feedback and none of their work has been marked. I personally don’t think they are doing enough.”

“I have had to make a complaint to my daughter’s school just to get them to contact her personally once a week, check she is OK and understands the work she has been given. This is unacceptable. My daughter has mental health issues, she’s barely done any work and nobody from the school has been in touch to check if she is OK. She feels let down and dumped by the school and her teacher.”

But others had more positive experiences:

One said: “My younger son is in year nine and is working all day and having a lot of work and feedback from his teachers and his school.”