Blended Learning

My daughter attends Clydebank Hogh School where there are 1200 pupils and the bare minimum of measures in place. The one way system is not sufficient to allow social distancing, with 1200 pupils, many of them young adults, crammed into corridors and stairwells between classes. There is a big focus on kids' mental health, but my daughter, my niece and my friend's son have all expressed feeling worried about catching Covid and passing it onto their loved ones. In fact my friend's son is worried for himself too, as he suffers badly from asthma. As parents, we are anxious and guilty and feel pressured into sending them into a giant petri dish every day, especially since the daily updates often include the fact that young people can get Covid, can become very ill, and even die! We are told this, then told to send our precious children into school! My idea is that parents should be given the option to have our young ones work from home, some if not all of the time. This reduces the numbers in schools, allows for more distancing and consequently makes it much safer. For the number of pupils working from home, have a proportionate number of teachers offer virtual, online learning. I don't believe it is any coincidence that after a few weeks of the schools going back, the number of cases started rising exponentially. This is a terrifying and anxious time and not everyone is happy with schools being back. Let people choose.

It is important for reducing anxiety levels of young people and parents by giving us the choice, and for making schools much safer. Also, it has been pointed out that the places where Covid is more likely to spread, are indoors and with a lot of people. 1200 pupils crammed into corridors and stairwells, many with no regard for other, nor concept of the danger to them and their loved ones. Scottish government are looking for ways to reduce the spread, and if it's not safe for older adults to congregate in busy places, why would it be safe for younger adults? Reduce the spread by having less pupils in big schools at any one time. I can't believe this idea hasn't been implemented already. It is also important for people who have to use public transport to get to work - sharing buses with dozens of young people heading to and from school puts many others at risk. Reducing these numbers makes public transport much safer. Many teachers will be vulnerable or have family members who are, so giving some of them the option to teach online I'm sure would be welcomed. Reducing numbers in schools also makes it easier for young people to understand the restrictions. At the moment, when I tell my daughter to keep 2m apart from her friends, not to go to busy places, and not to meet more than 5 at a time, she understandably questions this, because they are all in close contact at school. I struggle to explain it, because it makes no sense to me either.