Allow children to see their teachers

Private schools and state schools in England are using online meeting software such as Microsoft Team to have virtual classes, where the children can actually interact with their teachers.

Highland Council in their wisdom have decided that this would present a safety risk to children, but haven't explained exactly why. I suspect that it is down to ignorance and a failure to completely understand the software or take advice from those who do.

Our children are the ones to suffer.

Why the contribution is important

It's important for children to still feel part of the school and for vulnerable children it's important for their teachers to communicate with them.

Also, the achievement gap between private and state schools will widen further as state schools are on the whole making a pretty poor job of online teaching.

by yebaws on May 05, 2020 at 11:12PM

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Comments

  • Posted by MSLH May 06, 2020 at 09:42

    I couldn’t agree more. The lack of online teaching in the Borders is, quite frankly, almost none existent. The general standard of education in Scotland is not something to boast about at the best of times, but in lockdown we are sadly lacking in initiative and will fall behind even more. When John Swinney announced on 19th March that schools and nurseries would be closing he said “ Teachers can provide educational continuity for children in the broad general education in a variety of ways; for example through setting weekly learning tasks and emailing these to families where possible, or using Glow and other online learning platforms. I am confident that the teaching profession will respond in a variety of imaginative, creative and simulating ways to support continuity in learning for pupils”. Perhaps Mr Swinney should have issued specific instructions to Head teachers as to what was expected of them regarding distance learning and not left it to individuals to decide, as some of them obviously haven’t got a clue!

  • Posted by Bannerman May 08, 2020 at 19:40

    The OP states 'state schools are on the whole making a pretty poor job of online teaching.' What is the evidence for this generalisation? Perhaps there is none?
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