March of the home schooling snoopers

Parents face ‘visit’ if kids aren’t learning online

SCHOOLS are ‘tracking’ parents and pupils to make sure they keep up with homeschooling timetables.

Local authorities are planning to intervene when they fear youngsters might fall behind.

Families who are not logging enough work on special online portals, such as Glow, can expect a call or visit from a teacher or ‘trusted adults’, councils warned.

Schools were closed to the majority of pupils in March because of coronavirus. Education Secretary John Swinney has made clear that he does not expect parents to replicate classrooms at home but does want to ensure that ‘while schools are closed, learning continues’.

But last night, parents’ group Connect said ‘parents did not sign up to be teachers’.

The Scottish Mail on Sunday contacted all councils and several made clear they were monitoring parents’ and pupils’ progress.

A Midlothian Council spokesman said: ‘Schools are actively tracking engagement with online learning activities to identify families requiring support.

‘This could be support from teachers, support with digital devices or support with internet connectivity.’ West Lothian Council said: ‘A consistent approach is being applied across all schools to monitor and record pupil engagement.’

Some councils said they had identified children likely to struggle with home learning before the schools broke up.

Gillian Owen, Aberdeenshire Council’s education committee chairwoman, said schools were using portals such as Glow and Seesaw to ‘guide pupils through a variety of learning opportunities’.

She added: ‘This makes the ongoing assessment of learning and direct feedback possible, and gives teachers the option to reach out to parents and carers.’ In East Ayrshire, 105 iPads have been handed to children, and 180 to staff, to help with home learning.

Schools try to keep in touch with youngsters through things such as ‘birthday shout outs’, but if necessary families will receive a call from ‘key and trusted adults’.

A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: ‘Staff are in frequent contact with pupils and are available to support families who need extra help.’

A City of Edinburgh Council spokesman said: ‘Parents have a role to play in that ensuring their children are doing their home learning and then asking for support if there are any issues.’

There are concerns the enforced school break will exacerbate the attainment gap in Scotland.

Some households have fewer devices for children to learn on, less space, parents who did not succeed at school themselves, or who are now too busy to help their own children. Several councils admitted they are mindful of this and do not want to increase pressure on struggling families.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: ‘We are not expecting them to recreate the classroom in their kitchen.’

North Ayrshire Council said: ‘We appreciate this is an already stressful period for parents.

‘We know learning from home is not the same as learning in school and as such, there is no requirement for them to try and recreate a ‘classroom’ environment.’

Eileen Prior, of the parents’ group Connect, said: ‘Many parents did not sign up to home educate – their focus needs to be on keeping their children healthy and happy.’

‘We know this is an already stressful period’