Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope you are all safe and well and coping with the situation we find ourselves in. These are very challenging times indeed.
I have taken very large numbers of phone calls today about home learning so I thought it would be a good idea to put out a message about what we are doing and why. The two main queries/comments I have had are as follows:
Why are you not doing Zoom or live lessons?
The school does not have Zoom and would not be able to use it due to security issues. We do have Teams but have decided against live lessons for several reasons. They are:
- Live lessons have to be watched at set times which make them very difficult to access for families with more than one child/ working parents/ those without laptops;
- Live lessons can only be geared towards one ability level. We have more than one level in each class. In school children are supported by support staff or given separate sessions- we can’t do this on the computer so some children would struggle to engage!
- Live lessons do carry some safeguarding issues and schools that are employing live lessons are often insisting on cameras and microphones being off and/or an adult being in the room.
- Live lessons would often need an adult to sit with the child. Young children sit in class because the teacher has a physical presence. On a computer screen this is not the case so for younger children, those with additional needs or any who are easily distracted this would be very difficult.
Instead we have chosen to record lessons, stories and messages for children. This is not an easier option for teachers as each short Explain Everything teaching video you see takes between 2-4 hours to make, with the face to face videos taking up to an hour. However, these videos can be watched at any time, are short and precise and can be re-watched if a child is stuck and made for different ability levels so we feel that, for most children, they are a better option.
I haven’t got time to do all the work:
We understand that each family has different circumstances. We are trying to put up enough work for parents who would like their children to work a ‘school day’ whilst not overloading others. It is a very difficult balance! If you are struggling please do not worry. The important things are:
- Your child’s health and wellbeing are the most important things to consider.
- It is not a good idea for children to be watching TV or on computer games for too long but there are many other things you can do with your child that will help them to learn. Examples include: cooking, family walks, bike rides, gardening, D.I.Y, board games, looking for wildlife on walks or in the garden, art and craft, water play, planting seeds, colouring and quizzes. There are also many websites where they can practise skills independently. These are all learning experiences and we would love to celebrate anything like this- send your pictures to your teacher!
- Try and read with your child/hear them read everyday. You could try a family ‘reading time’ after lunch when everyone reads. It doesn’t matter what they read- comics, magazines, newspapers or books are all okay!
- Try and engage with some of the maths and literacy activities the teacher is preparing but if you can’t manage them all don’t worry. Try and make sure it’s balanced over the week with some maths, some literacy and some topic.
We are working flat out and will continue to do so to try and support you all as much as we can. In the next few days we will update the school website with ideas and information so please keep checking: https://crynallt-primary-school.j2bloggy.com/undefined
Please let us know if you need any support or help. We have a very limited number of chromebooks we can lend to families who need them, we can provide paper packs of work for children with additional needs and we are able to signpost you to other support if needed.
Take care and stay safe,
Mrs Woodford