Parents want schools to provide more live online lessons for children isolating due to the Covid-19 pandemic, survey shows

Parents want teachers to provide more online and recorded lessons, and more support with work set for children who are forced to isolate because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report.

The survey of more than 600 parents by the charity Parentkind — the fourth in a series — examined how parents felt about the return to school since September and included questions about the practical aspects of remote learning and the use of technology.

More than two-thirds of respondents said their child had access to a digital device and the internet that they did not need to share with another person in their household, while a third said that they had the resources but had to share them.

Of those that do have access to a digital device and the internet, almost two thirds, 62%, primarily use a laptop and 4%, a smartphone. More than nine in ten — 93% — of parents said that their child had access to the stationary they needed to learn at home, however almost one in fifth did not have a printer and 18% did not have a quiet place to study at home.

When it came to arrangements for remote learning, 64% of parents said their child’s school had shared plans of how they would continue to educate children who had to stay at home. Of those, two-thirds were happy with the arrangements.

However, 67% said they wanted to see more instruction or teaching given to support the work set, more live online lessons, more recorded lessons or video clips provided by the school, and more feedback given to their child on the completed work, compared with learning provision during the school lockdown in the last academic year.

Asked about lost learning and provision for catch-up, 70% of parents said their child was receiving some or all of the support they needed to make up for the face-to-face learning lost during the spring and summer lockdown. One in ten respondents believed their child was not getting the appropriate support.

Six out of ten parents said their child had attended school every day during the first half term since September, and just over a third said their child had attended on most or some days.

John Jolly, the chief executive of Parentkind, the national parental participation in education charity, said, “Our findings show that, although most parents appreciate that school leaders and teachers are doing their best to catch up their child with missed learning and keep their education on track, anxiety remains high. With continuing lengthy absences as more pupils are sent home to self-isolate, parents are naturally more worried than ever about the lasting negative impact the pandemic will have on their child’s academic attainment and life outcomes.

“Since the pandemic caused schools to close in March, we’ve regularly invited parents to give us their views with a series of coronavirus snapshot surveys, so we can understand what their major concerns are and alert education stakeholders and media to them. By presenting parents’ views, we aim to ensure their concerns are listened to and acted upon by policymakers.”