MNHQ here - what you told us about how current school restrictions are affecting you and your DC

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

Hope Monday is treating you all as well as possible, all things considered (and what a lot there is to consider...)

We've just released the results of a survey we carried out last week about the current round of restrictions on in-school learning, and thought you'd like to see the results. (This was a survey of just over 1000 MN users in the UK who have at least one child of school age.)

62% of you say you want children in primary schools and years 11 and 13 to return to school after the February half term. 75% say school lockdowns are harming children’s education, and 73% of those doing home-schooling say their child is more demotivated and disengaged than they would be on a ‘normal’ school day.

40% of those whose children are in private schools say their children are actively engaged in learning five or more hours a day, compared with 12% of parents whose children are in state schools.

Mothers are spending an average of 1.9 hours per day helping their children with schoolwork, while those with a male partner say their partner spends 0.7 hours on the task. 44% of respondents say they are spending more than two hours actively supporting their child’s schoolwork every day. 21% say their child cannot do any of their home-schoolwork without parental intervention and help.

71% of primary school parents in paid work say ‘lockdown learning has made me a worse employee or less effective at work’. 55% overall, and 67% of those with primary school children, are worried they’re letting their employer down because of time spent supporting their children’s learning - and 75% are worried they’re not doing enough to support their children’s school work.

Parents of younger school-age children are finding things particularly difficult. 60% of parents with children in primary school say this period of lockdown learning is more difficult than the last one because it feels more permanent and exhausting.

Parents are increasingly worried about the impacts on their children’s wellbeing and future development. 75% say school lockdowns are harming children’s education, and 73% of those doing home-schooling say their child is more demotivated and disengaged than they would be on a ‘normal’ school day. (48% of those whose children are physically at school say the same.)

78% of parents say lockdown has been harmful to their children’s mental health, and 90% say it’s been harmful to their social lives. Of those who think that primary school children and exam-year pupils should go back to school after half term, almost half (48%) said the main reason was their children’s mental health.   

When asked about levels of confidence in the handling of COVID and children’s education:

81% said they had confidence in their child’s own school
78% said they had confidence in teachers and schools in general
14% said they had confidence in the UK government, and
11% said they had confidence in education ministers in Westminster (education ministers in devolved administrations scored 15%).

76% think teachers and schools have been given an impossible task in coping with COVID-related school closures, and 89% think parents who have young children and paid work are in an impossible situation.

So a pretty grim picture all around really - and reflecting a lot of what we've seen you say on the Talk boards over the past month or so.

As ever, we'd love to hear what you think. BBC Radio 4's World at One devoted much of today's episode to this topic and included a contribution from our founder Justine - you can hear that here.

Thanks to all who took part.

[Loushome]

Oh bother, I missed this, sorry. Thanks for producing it. Makes for an interesting read whilst I prepare for yet another fun day ahead!!! X