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Coronavirus in the UK: Don’t livestream lessons from home and three hours school work a day is ‘plenty’, NEU teaching union tells members

But some schools have said maintaining face-to-face interaction with students with video link is positive

Teachers should not livestream lessons to their pupils from home during the coronavirus lockdown, and giving children two to three hours “work” a day is “plenty”, the UK’s biggest teaching union has said.

The National Education Union argued that parents cannot expect a normal timetable during the Covid-19 crisis, and that getting children involved in household chores could also be “educational”.

The NEU has published new guidance to its roughly 450,000 members on how they should be teaching from home while schools are closed for most pupils.

It advises teachers that they “should not livestream lessons from their homes, nor engage in any video-calling, unless in exceptional circumstances with the parent”.

‘Unprecedented time’

Parents appear to have largely heeded advise to keep their children at home after schools were closed in the UK for most students
Parents appear to have largely heeded advise to keep their children at home after schools were closed in the UK for most students (Photo: OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty)

The union said it had issued the warning because of pupil safeguarding reasons, and to protect teachers from having images of themselves potentially misused.

However, other schools have already taken a different approach, arguing it is positive for children to maintain carefully managed face-to-face interaction with their pupils at a time when many are feeling unsettled.

In guidance addressed to school leaders, the NEU said: “In this unprecedented time, parents cannot expect that their children will be accessing a normal timetable or individual support on a regular basis.”

The union said that “a maximum of two to three hours of ‘work’ per day is plenty and will keep minds active but enthusiastic”.

Chores ‘educational’

“Getting children to help with household activities such as washing, cooking and gardening are educational, as is watching some ‘good’ TV or online streams, such as documentaries and drama,” the advice adds.

The union said that students should ideally be set work that requires “little or no access to technology” to “cater for everyone”.

It also said tasks should be “bite-sized chunks” that can be “completed to varying degrees of success with more complex and additional tasks for the most able pupils”.

The advice comes as teachers and parents alike are trying to get to grips with educating children from home.

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‘Learning routine’

Greg Smith, head of operations at the home education firm Oxford Home Schooling, told i that parents should set their children a “learning routine” and avoid the temptation to shy away from subjects they are less familiar with.

While most parents will not be as knowledgeable as their child’s teacher, he said this is “not necessarily a bad thing”.

“Perhaps the parent will have to learn something for themselves in order to be able to convey it to their child and the freshness of the learning experience will feed into the child’s own enjoyment of the subject.”

With an estimated 1.4 billion children now out of school due to the coronavirus, the University of Oxford has also partnered with the World Health Organisation to launch parenting resources for isolated families.

The resources advise parents to have one-on-one time with their child, give positive instructions and praise, structure the day and manage bad behaviour through a consequences system.

Lucie Cluver, professor of child and family social work at Oxford, said: “This time of hardship may also allow for creative opportunity: a chance to build stronger relationships with our families, and to have fun together – which is great for children’s wellbeing and sense of security.”

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