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My Perspective on Missed Education
Jane Stratton • Jul 14, 2020
Everything Is Going To be Alright!
With much negativity about education, or lack of, I want to share some of my story to try and dispel fears. Perhaps media-fuelled, the pessimism surrounding the recent lack of school attendance, and its possible consequences, has created a ripple effect throughout the population, resulting in real panic amongst parents.
Having three youngsters with autism, I am very familiar with the ups and downs of the current education system. Suffice it to say, not one of my children has had a conventional route through school; the shortest
period of absence of any of them was two years. My youngest is still of school age; he has missed years and years of school throughout his time in education and will never again attend a mainstream provision. He is now thriving doing one hour per subject per week with online tutors, with no work in between, and is now way ahead of his peers in terms of curriculum progression. My older children have 6 Highers each; one is a student at St Andrew’s University and the other lives independently and attends City of Glasgow College.
Why am I telling you this? ……. because school children this year have missed about 11 weeks of lessons at the most; some have missed much less when exam leave is factored in. As a parent who has experienced the overwhelming fear of how much school a child was missing, I can identify with the worry parents are currently feeling. However, that experience of parenting children having extensively lengthy periods of school absence (at a time when all other pupils were attending) has taught me that it has not mattered in the slightest to their results at the end of the day.
I appreciate that I am in a unique position, having experience where others do not, but I want to reassure those who are worried, that it will be okay. All over Britain, children have experienced lockdown differently. Some will have found the time away from friends difficult, some will have flourished in the safety of home, others will have attended local hubs and continued with learning that way. Some families will have suffered loss, and some will have had financial worries, some youngsters will have had no access to no school-associated learning at all. Dedicated teachers will be aware of all these situations and will be prepared to help, support and nurture their pupils. They will reduce any gaps in attainment as quickly as possible, lessening anxiety for parents and pupils alike.
As humans, we fear uncertainty and worry about the future. As a nation, there has never before been a situation that has closed all schools like this, so it is natural to feel concerned and I have felt that concern many times throughout my children’s education. The difference is that I had no one with experience to be the voice of reason and I know that could have helped me so much. Please let me be that voice of reason for all the parents who are fearing irreparable damage to their children’s education.
I am going to tell you about my youngest. He has managed about two full years of school in his life. Due to severe and paralysing anxiety, he has missed countless months of school and for the last couple of years was only managing about half a day per week of attendance. When engaging online learning support for him a few weeks ago, I had to speak at length with the maths tutor as my son was probably going to have to start with primary work. He was very understanding and thankfully very knowledgeable about autism; he agreed to work slowly and see how he got on. Astoundingly, after the first lesson, the tutor spoke to me and told me that he would be working on National 5 work! My son is in 2nd year. This has been the case with every one of his six subjects. My son is thriving, and I can truly say that his time away from school has not disadvantaged him in the slightest.
Having now faced the scenario of lengthy absences from school with three children, I feel that I am well placed to try and be a calming influence. Children throughout the country will have gained a lot of learning
in recent months, even if it has had no connection to schoolwork. Rather than this generation having their education destroyed by Covid-19, I truly believe that we may well see a group of resilient, caring and appreciative youngsters who are well placed to be strong adults in the future.
Please try if you can not to worry about any education that your children have lost this year and trust me when I say everything is going to be alright. I would love to hear in the comments below how the children get on when school resumes, and further down the line when life begins to settle.
Keep safe!
WOW!
JUST WOW!
Imagine me open-mouthed and lost for words! Quite difficult? That’s because it doesn’t happen often.
However, that was exactly what happened at the end of the most amazing workshop I attended yesterday at the ITAKOM conference.
Hands down, it was the most effective and informative session about neurodiversity I have ever attended (and I have attended quite a few).
The reason it was so good? It was delivered by a group of neurodiverse young adults from the Neuropoint Stakeholders Group from the Salvesen Mindroom.
It's hard to believe that I've been doing this for a year now. Sitting down at my computer a few times a week and getting to speak to unique, intelligent and wonderful young people who all want to push themselves that little bit further. In light of this, It feels only right to reflect on what I've learned myself in this time. Spoiler alert; it's far more than I thought I would. Expect the unexpected It's safe to say I didn't think I was going to end up doing this, and I think that's a big part of what has made the experience so special. Life is so unpredictable, and for someone who loves to plan, it's huge for me to even say those words. But, more often than not, unpredictability leads to where you were meant to go. Don't fear trying something new, you might like where it gets you. Be willing to ask for help The only reason I am where I am is through the support of others. Be it Jane , for helping me get started with the business, to my family supporting me through it, and even to my friends for reassuring me when I wasn't sure if I could do it. Asking and offering help is, as we have all learned in the past year and a half, one of the most essential parts of our humanity. We undeniably need each other, and shouldn't be afraid to admit it. Never Underestimate Young People This is the second biggest lesson I learned. Every single young person I had the joy of interacting with over this first year has disproven every stereotype the world puts out there. They are all bright, brilliant communicators, funny, unique and caring. There wasn't one session where they didn't also ask me how I was before we started. Each one of them proved to me that they didn't deserve to be underestimated in the slightest. Pulling their grades up through hard work, teaching me something I didn't know, creating masterful pieces of writing, and even proving to themselves that they knew what they were doing. We need to listen more to our teenagers This, for me, is the biggest lesson for everyone who may come across this post. I have always valued the voices of our young people. I believe they're fundamental to our developing society and our future. Unfortunately, I know many who would rather believe the contrary. The individuals that I worked with over this year proved that young people deserve a say in their lives, their future, and their education. Many of them are passionate to take a stand for their peers, they just need the support. I love doing this. At the end of the day, it's simple. I always thought I'd be working with young people in some capacity, and here I am. Three weeks out from beginning my teaching journey, and from tutoring beginning again. I honestly cannot wait. Being able to make a difference, no matter how small, means a lot to me. I fell in love with this role over the last year, and I can't wait to keep going. So, to the Kirkwood Tutoring Class of 2021, I wish you all the luck in the world. You all deserve it 10 times over. And thank YOU, for teaching me and trusting me. I hope the world is kinder to you all this year.
Currently in my forties, heading towards my fifties, I can look back and see just how perfect this career has been for me. All my children have additional support needs and have needed a hands-on mum to advocate on their behalf and negotiate what has been to them, a stressful and damaging education system. I have gained such a wealth of knowledge of child development, neurodiversity, education systems and learning styles, both in my personal life and in my career, that I am now able to offer so much to the families and youngsters with whom I work. I bring to my tutoring, not only knowledge learned from research and qualifications but more importantly from lived experience. It has given me a confidence in what I do too, and I have been able to adapt over the years from black and white books and paper posters through the introduction of coloured books and laminated adverts (!) to eBooks, social media marketing, websites, a plethora of digital resources and a physical in-house science lab for practical experiments and monthly tutorials. With the Covid-19 situation, I have seamlessly moved to online tutoring and am actually thoroughly enjoying being able to offer my services further afield, although I also look forward to the day when I am able to see some pupils again face-to-face. Education itself has seen numerous changes over the years, with the need once again for drastic change. I have learnt so much about adapting my tutoring style as curriculum changes have been introduced and assessments have been redesigned. Many have opposed these changes but as tutors, we have to constantly adapt if we are to successfully support today’s learners. Private tutoring, with its flexibility, personal approach and adaptability lends itself well to modern learning and I just love what I do! For so many people who have recently graduated, lost their job or whose family situation has changed, employment is looking bleak. All I can say is, if you are passionate about a subject, and would love to share it whilst also improve the prospects for the next generation, give tutoring a try ; it can truly change your life!
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