Parents want schools to reopen during holidays to catch up on classes missed during lockdowns

Aussie parents want schools to open during holidays to help students, as they struggle with remote learning headaches in lockdown.

Parents want schools to stay open during holidays to help students catch up on missed classes, as they struggle with homeschooling headaches in lockdown.

Tricky and turgid tasks set by some schools are stressing students and baffling busy parents working from home.

Despite stay-at-home orders for 18 million Australians, some teachers have set assignments requiring parents to venture out to buy materials or special equipment.

A 14-year-old student was told to “create a complex food web on your chosen biome with interactive QR codes on A3 paper” – even though few households have access to A3 printers or paper.

Frazzled parents are having to raid recycling bins to help children create craft projects, tackle high-tech tasks using unfamiliar computer programs, and interpret turgid assignments jammed with jargon.

An English task for Year 1 students at a Victorian school requires children as young as five to “write in a way that is engaging and speaks directly to my readers’’.

They must create a “persuasive advertisement’’ with “the right amount of energy in my writing’’.

Education expert Dr Kevin Donnelly, who reviewed the national curriculum, said most Year 1 students cannot read fluently, and the task was “more suited for a Year 10 student’’.

“Parents are going up the wall,’’ Dr Donnelly, who is a senior research fellow in education at the Australian Catholic University, said.

“The teachers I talk to are finding it really difficult because they love being in the classroom and interacting with children.

“Parents, especially if they’re working or don’t have the technology, are finding it extremely difficult and frustrating as well’’.

Dr Kevin Donnelly says home schooling can be “frustrating” for parents and teachers.

Children’s charity UNICEF Australia has found that most Australian parents are worried about “learning loss’’ from extended lockdowns.

“Home schooling is clearly a stress on parents, with more than a third saying they want their children to return to school to take the pressure off at home,’’ chief executive Tony Stuart said.

“There is clearly no substitute for face-to-face learning.’’

Year 12 student Zac Konfino, 17, finds learning from home difficult and stressful as his final exams loom, and misses his classmates.

“We have Zoom calls but it’s not as efficient as being at school and being in a class with face-to-face learning,’’ he said.

“The Year 12s are definitely suffering and we missed out on our (HSC) trials because of lockdowns.’’

The Sydney Secondary College student from Stanmore was vaccinated against Covid-19 two months ago, as both he and his mother suffer from severe asthma.

Year 12 student Zac Konfino, 17, of Stanmore in Sydney, is learning at home but has been vaccinated against Covid-19 and hopes to return to class. Picture: Supplied

The UNICEF Australia survey of 1000 Australian parents found that a quarter support longer school terms so children can catch up on subjects during holidays, once lockdowns end.

Nearly half want more one-to-one teacher contact during lockdown, with a quarter of parents fearing their kids will never catch up at school.

Two thirds of parents said they would vaccinate their children “tomorrow’’ if they could, to get students back to class.

Mission Australia’s recent survey of 25,000 teenagers found many are struggling with home schooling, complaining that teachers are piling on too much work during lockdowns.

Australian Education Union deputy president Meredith Peace praise the “immense resilience, professionalism and dedication’’ of teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said increased workloads for teachers juggling in-class learning for children of essential workers, with home-lessons for other students, was causing “stress amongst exhausted public school staff’’.

AEU deputy president Meredith Peace says teachers are “exhausted”.

Centre for Independent Studies research fellow in education policy, Glenn Fahey, said 40 per cent of students are likely to fall behind during lockdowns, although 20 per cent learn faster at home than in school.

He said that compared to last year’s lockdowns, “the quantity and quality of instruction has taken a blow’’.

HOMEWORK HEADACHES:

Create a complex food web on your chosen biome with interactive QR codes on A3 paper. (14-year-old)

Write a 1500 word report on HPV vaccines and why you are in favour. (14-year-old)

Identify and evaluate stakeholders and impacts/influence on society for a range of arguments. (Year 8 drug and alcohol education)

Pour blue dye over ice and watch for two minutes and record. (Correct answer is that nothing happens). 11-year-old

Construct a hedgehog using materials from the recycling bin. (7-year-old)

Children are being kept busy in lockdowns with school experiments.

What parents told UNICEF Australia:

“The teachers could be doing live lessons over Zoom and not just sending masses of emails and papers to complete. They normally teach fact to face in class so why can’t they do it over the internet?’’

“Some of the home learning is unnecessary – stick to maths, English, science and history/geography and stop wasting time.’’

Some parents think certain lessons are “wasting time”.

What students told Mission Australia:

“We are being asked to continue the same curriculum and the same workload that previous students have had without online learning and a pandemic to deal with.’’ – 17-year-old Year 12 girl from NSW.

“A lack of motivation can lead to me not completing my tasks, and this in turn leads to feelings of worthlessness and a sense of ‘what’s the point?’ It can also build up and then suddenly there is this giant backlog of things that need to be done within a really short period of time to meet deadlines which can be super stressful.’’ – 17-year-old boy from Victoria.

Teenagers are tackling Year 12 in lockdown.

“I have tried to ask teachers for help but they are always too busy’’. – 17-year-old girl from NSW.

“How is one stupid assignment going to help me with my life?” – 17-year-old girl from South Australia.

“I feel as if teachers don’t know the limit to set students work as they aren’t in the classroom and teaching live. Some teachers set mountain loads of work and it becomes more stressful during this lockdown since it requires independent study and research’’. – 15-year-old Victorian boy.

Do you have silly home schooling tasks? Send them to [e-mail]