26th November 2020
Dear Mr Swinney
Parental Concerns
As you are aware, Connect is working hard to hear from parents about their and their children’s experiences and how these are impacting on learning through the current situation. Very many parents and carers are anxious for children to remain at school and nursery despite the many challenges this presents, because they recognise this is of crucial importance for their education and also for their mental and physical health.
That said, there is a great deal of confusion and concern among parents, and so I am writing to you to seek urgent clarification on a number of matters:
1. We welcome the recent circulation of the CERG report about COVID-19 cases in schools. However, the statistical information available to parents and young people about school absences and actual COIVD-19 cases is being conflated. We ask that clear information is provided to school communities which explains the difference, giving parents and young people confidence in the drive to keep schools open.
2. There is growing concern about repeated and prolonged absences from school for self-isolating young people. It is difficult to get a clear picture of what underlies these absences but the current situation is having massive implications for the education of young people. We believe there needs to be consistent application of COVID-19-related health policy as well as accurate, evidence based information tailored specifically for, and made available to, families.
3. Where young people are self-isolating and are not unwell, schools are not consistently providing school work/online learning. We have been assured since March that this would be addressed through provision of devices, network access and training on the platform being used: at the end of November this still remains unresolved for many, at a time when young people are spending less time in school. Scottish Government has providing funding to local authorities to provide IT support where it is needed: since they do not seem able to resolve the issue, we ask what action Scottish Government will take to address this.
4. SQA Higher/Advanced Higher Qualifications 2021. We are aware that many young people and their parents are anxious about the arrangements for Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications next year. Specifically, there are concerns about the examinations and what might happen if these cannot go ahead. You recently stated that a decision could be taken on whether the examinations could go ahead as late as February 2021. We strongly feel that contingency arrangements – ie details of how qualifications will be awarded if the exams can’t go ahead – should be shared now with young people, parents and school staff. We are aware of young people being told by teachers that every piece of course work they do might be relevant to their final grade. Whether this is true or not, this is causing a huge amount of stress and anxiety for many. Our recent Back at School survey asked parents about their confidence in their child’s learning. Overall, 13% of respondents said they were ‘very confident’, 39% said they were ‘quite confident’, 34% said ‘not very confident’ and 9% said ‘not at all confident’. When we extract answers for S4-S6, the percentages change:
- 8% are ‘very confident’
- 26% are ‘quite confident’
- 52% are ‘not very confident’
- 12% are ‘not at all confident’.
We ask that you urgently provide more confidence by sharing the contingency plans and by making a clear decision as soon as is possible. We also seek clarification on what will be done to help young people complete course work they have missed, due to absence and reduced learning time because of lockdown.
Given the events of the last qualifications round and all of its ramifications, we strongly believe it is in everyone’s best interests that there is transparency and clarity in this current academic year.
Be assured, we recognise that the issues facing Government, Local Authorities and schools are significant, but the challenges these present to children and their families are life- changing. We are asking for your urgent attention to be given to these matters: communication is key and as an organisation, Connect is committed to ensuring parents and families have access to the information they need to support their children and young people.
Yours sincerely
Eileen Prior
Executive Director