8th June 2020
Our two parent/carer lockdown surveys have received huge numbers of responses. Parents and carers have shared their experiences and views and we are doing everything we can to make sure parents' and carers' voices are heard as we go forward. We've also included the asks in an Open Letter to Cabinet Secretary John Swinney here along with some of our suggestions for the way forward.
Please find below our 'asks', on behalf of those thousands of parents who have taken part in our surveys. We are sharing the reports from the surveys so far, and the 'asks', with Scottish Government, local authorities, schools/nurseries and staff so that parents' experiences and views can be factored in now.
As plans are taking shape, Connect is urging Scottish Government, local authorities, schools and nurseries to involve families in planning at all levels. If the return to school/nursery is going to work, families need to be front and centre. Put bluntly, if their needs are not met, the plans will simply disintegrate.
Our asks are clear and simple:
- Recognise, respect and thank families for the amazing job they are doing in keeping children happy and safe during lockdown
- Set up a single contact point for help and ask parents what they need
- Ensure regular contact with parents/learners about how things are going, adapt what is being sent home to ensure it works for families and for different learners. Parents tell us they and their children are desperate for ‘live’ teaching, with the teacher visible to children/young people
- Involve parents and Parent Councils in local planning for going back to school/nursery
- Reach out to every family and provide help, advice and reassurance to match each family’s needs
- Involve parents/Parent Councils in planning for supporting children/young people’s mental health & wellbeing as we go forward
- Make contact and put support and help in place urgently where children have additional support needs
- Digital learning is not possible or is very difficult for many families: ensure access to learning in ways that work for families; have a whole-school approach to digital learning
- Be clear and reasonable about what is expected around doing school work at home; make sure families have what they need to do this: time, confidence, support, knowledge, printers, devices, work sheets, pencils, paper etc
- Involve parents, Parent Councils and learners in transition planning, both for those returning to school/nursery and for those going into entirely new settings. In fact, all children will be going into unfamiliar settings and so the principles of transition planning need to be applied
- Parent Councils are statutory bodies: local authorities & schools must support them in their role of representing the parents and carers at a school
- No child or young person can be disadvantaged by the shutdown or part-time school: SQA, schools, colleges, universities and employer organisations must adopt a flexible and enabling approach for young people.
These are our asks. We also have some ambitions for what our young people, and families, experience in the future:
- Learning that is focused not just on the classroom but uses outdoors and creative spaces to bring the curriculum to life and provide all children and young people with what they need in their learning and development
- Creative use of digital platforms which combine sustainable, high quality online learning, combined with pastoral care and classroom teaching
- Partnerships between home and school which recognise the circumstances of families and provides what they need to support school work at home.