PARENTS in Helensburgh should not put too much pressure on themselves over their children’s home schooling during the coronavirus lockdown.
That's the message from Argyll and Bute Council's policy lead on education – six weeks after schools across the UK were shut as part of measures aimed at controlling the spread of the virus.
That has led to lessons needing to be conducted at home, but Councillor Yvonne McNeilly said that parents had responded positively to the efforts of teachers to provide educational resources online.
She also recently said that she had “every confidence” that secondary school teachers would ensure pupils received the right grades in place of the cancelled 2020 exam diet.
Councillor McNeilly said: “Lockdown is a difficult time for everyone, especially parents who are trying to home-school their children, many of whom are doing so while also trying to work from home – not an easy task.
“We fully understand that parents aren’t trained teachers, and we don’t expect them to be.
“Our teaching staff are working tirelessly to continue to provide a wide range of educational resources for children, and this has been very well received by parents.
“The last thing we want, however, is for parents to put unnecessary pressure on themselves.
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“From our very youngest pupils to young adults in our secondary schools, every child is at a different stage on their educational journey and every child has different needs. Parents need to do what works best for their household.
“Like us all, children have had their whole routines turned upside down and are going through a lot of uncertainty at the moment.
“The mental health and wellbeing of both them and their parents is the most important thing.
"There will be good days and bad days but what’s important is that parents just do what they can and don’t compare themselves to others.
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“There are lots of things parents can do to promote learning in the home, without making it appear like a typical ‘school day’.
“For example, baking, playing with Lego, reading books, searching the internet to find facts, watching educational programmes on TV, or playing games.
“I can’t stress enough, though, that the one thing that children will remember from this time is being at home with their family and having fun.
“Parent, please, please don’t feel guilty about what you are or aren’t doing.
"We’re all in this together and we’ll get through it together.”
READ MORE: Check out all the latest headlines from around Helensburgh and Lomond here
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