With Zoom in the kitchen and even more work to do, frazzled families are finding the second lockdown tougher
Boris Johnson has said England’s schools won’t be going back before March, and for most parents that means no letup to worksheets and Zooming in their own kitchens and sitting rooms. The second lockdown has brought new and harder challenges for families, with expectations rising about the amount of work children should be doing at home. The latest government guidance states that even children as young as five must have three hours of remote education every day, and that should include recorded teaching or live lessons as well as independent work.
Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, piled on extra pressure by telling parents to complain to the inspectorate, Ofsted, if they are not happy with the amount of home learning their child’s school is providing. As a result, some schools have increased the workload. Many parents, especially of primary school children, feel anxious. I’m a parent of a nine-year-old girl and, like many of my friends, there have been moments during the current lockdown when I have shouted at my child about home-schooling, and gone upstairs to cry.
