CUSP Welcomes Positive Changes To Lockdown Learning Environment
CUSP says it "welcomes" the positive changes to the lockdown learning environment this term.
A statement from CUSP follows below:
CUSP welcomes the positive changes to the lockdown learning environment this term. The union are keen to extend their gratitude for the work that the Education Minister, The Hon John Cortes, the Department of Education, with a special mention to Keri Scott and Jacqui Mason and the Heads of all schools have put in to achieving this aim. We would of course extend this thanks and gratitude to all the individual teachers that are acting with such dedication and professionalism in extenuating circumstances.
Our union consists of very active committee and group members who are all very keen to advocate for our students. It aims to bridge the communication gap between service users and providers. This will make it easier to communicate students learning needs and how it is received on a personal level.
In regards to the recent circumstances, we were keen to see what the learning provision was in fact and waited to see how it affected our members. We asked them there were any differences in learning in the two Comprehensives and for general feedback to the home learning provided in the last week. The questions have gotten an overall 85% interaction level and a high percentage of comments on the threads over the course of the week.
Parents are happy that students are following the normal timetable, with work similar to that which would be provided at school. There is also positive feedback that teachers are interacting during lessons for the most part and answering questions that may be forthcoming in a timely manner. There are some teachers that are unresponsive to questions, but on the whole good, positive feeling.
Westside comprehensive have registration both morning and afternoon, whereas Bayside do not. There is a mixed response to this, with some parents preferring structure and start times and others grateful that lessons are not so rigid so students have a more paced study time. Most parents report work is marked and feedback quick, however there are a few comments that some mock subjects are still not marked and some teachers unresponsive.
Work load between subject, school and year seems to vary with no determinable pattern. Some report good, portioned lessons throughout the day and others that all work for the whole day can be completed in an hour or so.
All parents report a huge, positive improvement to the last lockdown and are grateful that this has happened and thankful to the teachers for their dedication and work.
Other posts regarding parents and students experience of online learning have had an almost 100% interaction level. Most members are generally happy with content and work and the parents report younger children are very happy to hear and see posts from their teachers. The general consensus is that this is great and will work for a few weeks but hope to move on to something more substantial if lockdown is longer again.
Some parents are struggling trying to work and help out with lessons and there are still many who would prefer online zoom schooling as provided by our private schools and are concerned that the educational gap is widening further between state and private schools. This is especially highlighted for GSCE and A Level students who would benefit from this style of teaching rather than self learning. The older students are keen for schools to open and also for those with special needs who require routine, tactile learning and family respite and are hoping this is reviewed often so it can happen as soon as it is deemed safe.
Some parents of children with different than average learning abilities, report that they are being forgotten and are expected to work at the same level as the neurotypical students. They are very concerned that these students are also not disadvantaged by the home learning environment.
We also encourage the government to allow children of all front line workers to attend the skeleton school provision and do their schoolwork at that time. The current provision where children need two frontline parents is causing problems for some families where both parents are working but not both on the frontline,
We conducted a series of polls. On our poll “how’s it going?” 60% said it was great, 20% want the schools to reopen as soon as possible, and 20% said it was hard to manage with working.
We asked whether the schools should provide online live curriculum learning. 162 people said yes for everyone, 14 said for middle schools upwards, two people voted for comprehensive schools only, and one for GCSE / A level only. There were no votes for not doing it at all.
Our group consists of over 1100 members and we continue to grow daily with most parents and students eager to have a say on the experiences that their children have in their educational life.
