Exam confusion and a lack of equipment for teachers
- Published
Schools face "big logistical challenges" Nicola Mason said.
Spending Christmas preparing to introduce coronavirus testing for pupils, only for schools to then close, was "hard to bear" a head teacher said.
Confusion among pupils over exams plus a lack of equipment for remote learning is adding to the frustration.
Chase Terrace Academy in Burntwood, Staffordshire, has received nine out of the 70 laptops it requested, head teacher Nicola Mason said.
A new lockdown including school closures was announced on Monday.
All primary and secondary schools are closed to pupils, except for vulnerable children and the children of key workers, for the next six weeks. Teaching will continue remotely.
BTec exams are due to take place at the school on Wednesday
The laptops were requested to help students access remote learning, Ms Mason added, and said all schools face "logistical challenges" in the coming days.
And, on visiting the school on Tuesday, she said, it had been found the heating was broken.
Chase Terrace was among secondary schools which had been working to run testing schemes for pupils after the Christmas break.
The testing will now be used on staff, she said, but all the volunteers recruited to help have been told not to come in.
Secondary schools were told to roll out lateral testing from January, but have since been told to close
Many BTecs and technical exams are due to take place in the coming days, but some head teachers and college leaders say it would be impossible to hold them and unfair to candidates.
At Chase Terrace some year 13 students are due to take BTec PE exams on Wednesday and and Ms Mason says it has been "difficult" for students to understand why they are going ahead while exams in the summer are not.
"We have had emails from children about how stressed they are," she said.
"Nobody is complaining about the fact they have got to do it, they are happy to do the right thing for children, but they need information so they can give the detail to children."
Although the school is "prepared" for remote learning, the lack of technology makes access difficult for some pupils, and not having received the necessary equipment from the government means they cannot distribute any devices to students, Ms Mason added.
"Lots [of pupils] are at home in the same family and there is competition for devices, a year eleven student preparing for exams will take priority over a year seven, so it is not just access but afterwards as well, so it takes a lot of work."
The government said it has given out 560,000 devices this year to support remote education, with over one million devices to reach schools, colleges and councils
Hayley Guest said the decision to close schools should have been made earlier
In Wolverhampton, head teacher Hayley Guest, of East Park Academy, said there was "no doubt" the loss of further school time would be "significant" for every child.
"As a school we had to create a number of plans," she said.
"It is hard, hard to keep morale up, hard to keep people focused on what is important."
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: "Everyone in the school community - heads, teachers, support staff, parents and pupils - has been knocked from pillar to post by the indecision of this chaotic government.
"The Christmas break should have provided a respite, but late guidance and u-turns put paid to that.
"The right decision has finally been made, but we should have got here sooner."
LOCKDOWN LOOK-UP: The rules in your area
SOCIAL DISTANCING: What are the rules now?
SUPPORT BUBBLES: What are they and who can be in yours?
FACE MASKS: When do I need to wear one?
TESTING: How do I get a virus test?
- Published5 January 2021
- Published18 December 2020
