3rd August 2020
We've written to Cabinet Secretary John Swinney, asking for a national education programme on COVID-19, to clear up misinformation that is circulating on social media. We need to be sure children, young people, school and nursery staff and parents/carers are sharing the same information and that this is presented sensitively and with care.
This is our letter here:
'Dear Cabinet Secretary,
Education and learning about COVID-19
We’re writing to ask if there is a national learning and teaching approach or lesson plan for teaching children and young people about COVID-19? It is imperative that carefully selected phrases and age-appropriate facts are set out for schools, teachers and parents, so we can deliver a shared message. If this not yet being prepared, please can this be done before the start of school/nursery?
We are hearing that many young people are misinformed about COVID-19 and that they are persuaded by some of the unfounded posts on social media. Without frightening them, we need schools to lead on providing clear, factual information.
We are also particularly concerned about the possible negative impact of the wrong kind of messaging on children and young people. We cannot have them feeling overwhelmed or solely responsible for ‘transmitting’ COVID-19, for ‘bringing it home’ or ‘bringing it to school’. The messages they receive about individual and collective responsibility, caring for one another etc need to be handled with the utmost care.
We would welcome a clear learning or lesson plan, with details set out about what information should be given to children and young people of different ages, and in what formats. This must be shared with parents at the same time, so we can all discuss COVID-19 in the same ways, using carefully considered language. Anxious and stressed school staff may struggle to deliver COVID-19 lessons, without national guidance, just as parents might struggle with this too.
We would be pleased to play our part in sharing this information with parents and carers, to bring confidence and consistency in how we talk about COVID-19 in careful and considered ways.
Yours sincerely,
Eileen Prior,
Executive Director, Connect'