Hampshire &amp; Isle of Wight

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="720" height="480" src="https://hants.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2020/05/teenage-girl-at-desk-working-720x480-2.jpg" alt="Teenager learning in lockdown" class="wp-image-18829" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2020/05/teenage-girl-at-desk-working-720x480-2.jpg 720w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2020/05/teenage-girl-at-desk-working-720x480-2-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /></figure>



Home schooling has become a dirty word for many parents over the last three months &#8211; the nightmare juggle with work (and cleaning and cooking) and with the needs of our children.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="720" height="480" src="https://hants.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2018/09/CliffCanning_HCS_Feature-720x480.jpg" alt="Embley headmaster Cliff Canning" class="wp-image-7775" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2018/09/CliffCanning_HCS_Feature-720x480.jpg 720w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2018/09/CliffCanning_HCS_Feature-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2018/09/CliffCanning_HCS_Feature-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2018/09/CliffCanning_HCS_Feature.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /><figcaption>Embley headmaster Cliff Canning &#8211; pre lockdown!</figcaption></figure>



Times like this call for expert professional advice, so Cliff Canning, Headmaster at the independent co-ed (2-18 years) <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Embley (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.embley.org.uk/" target="_blank">Embley</a> in Romsey (the stunning 130 acre estate that was once Florence Nightingale’s family home) has this advice on how to keep children motivated and yourself involved in their learning. Sound words, and I hope they help. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="720" height="480" src="https://hants.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2019/09/MG_6674-720x480.jpg" alt="Embley in Romsey" class="wp-image-15336" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2019/09/MG_6674-720x480.jpg 720w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2019/09/MG_6674-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2019/09/MG_6674-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2019/09/MG_6674.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /><figcaption>Embley&#8217;s beautiful gothic façade</figcaption></figure>



My
children are finding it hard to focus. Are there any quick fixes? 



It
sounds old fashioned but it’s routine. The structure of routine will carry them
through when their will won’t. It really does help children to know that a
school day is a school day, even if they’re at home – to make sure they’re at
their desk at 9am and when the day is done they can walk away and relax.



Our
digital learning strategy has been embedded across the school for three years so
we were able to switch with relative ease to remote schooling. We’ve kept to
the school timetable at Embley, with a few simplified tweaks to allow parents
to better navigate their own workload and this has definitely been part of our
success. We expect the kids to be dressed appropriately because the majority of
our timetable is conducted via video conferencing. It’s so important that the
teacher can see the kids and the kids can see the teacher – technology needs to
be the enabler to teaching, but to teach successfully the human element mustn’t
be lost. We encourage the children to work in an appropriate, quiet space in
their homes, and not their bedrooms, that can be regularly supervised by
parents.



How
can parents help?



Be
gentle with yourself. Don’t beat yourself up – your children will catch up on
academics again. And some common sense needs to prevail. It’s not normal for
children to be stuck in front of computers all day, and if you feel that they
should stop for a bit and pick up the work later, that’s entirely appropriate.
And with older children parents need to remember that the relationship aspect
for them is so hard – they are marooned in their home and accessing their
friendship groups online is important.



How
can I tell if my children’s school is doing enough?



Communication.
A good school will try to move your child’s learning forward and be inventive.
Having submitted GCSE grades to the exam boards, our Year 11s will begin their
A Level courses early because we think that the children need to work towards
something. But we’re doing it in a way that allows them to have a degree of
autonomy in what they choose to learn over the next five weeks.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 



How
do you create community in isolation?



I
think you have to be creative, there’s no way around it. Much of it is about
having fun and actively involving the children, so we’ve been doing a lot of
school house competitions – various keepy-uppy challenges, how to get a biscuit
from forehead to mouth without touching it, and holding our own version of Bake
Off &#8211; I baked a white loaf, it was terrible! And our school photo is still
going ahead too – everyone can wear what they like (one of the teachers is
planning to be in a ballgown at her computer) and we’ll create it virtually.
They are small things that add up to a lot.



What pastoral problem signs should we be looking out for? Well,
children are becoming overly familiar with digital technology and can do some
silly things. You need to be vigilant on where your kids are using
technology. Put the devices away and out of the bedroom. Children should be as
familiar with their iPad as their pencil case as a tool of the trade to learn,
but it’s entirely appropriate to step away too.



How are
you prepared for R, Y1 and Y6 return?



We’ve
been preparing for the last five weeks, forensically walking the floor and
establishing with parents and children what they will be coming back to. With
130 acres, we recognise it’s a privilege few other schools have, and learning
outside the classroom has never been more important so we’ll be doing a lot of
that. We have a nine-hole golf course and tennis courts too &#8211; both sports
currently allowed by the government, so we intend to make full use of those
too. But the most important thing when the kids come back to school will be the
relationship between staff and pupil. Never mind any other innovations, it’s
the human factor and feeling of school ‘family’ that will make all the
difference, even at 2m distance from each other. 



Embley is having a Virtual Open Day on Tuesday 16 June 2020 at 10am. <a href="https://www.embley.org.uk/admissions/virtual-admissions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Click here to book (opens in a new tab)">Click here to book</a>.

How to keep kids learning in lockdown

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