First full week of school closures begins
School across Wales have closed their doors in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Whilst schools will remain open to the children of 'key workers', the Shadow Minister for Education has stressed the importance of continuing education, for those at home.
Suzy Davies AM said:
Schools are open only for the children of our essential workers, which means most children are at home.
It might seem as if the Easter break has come early, but it hasn’t. This is an extraordinary situation, and certainly not a holiday, and it’s vital that all parents and guardians do what they can to keep our young leaners learning.
Mrs Davies acknowledged that it will be difficult, adding:
Parents guide and support their children when, for example, doing homework, but for the time being, they must take on the role of full-time educator, too.
Our schools have done a great job in supplying pupils with learning resources, and I am heartened to see that the BBC will be supporting children in the coming weeks with an increase in its Wales-specific ‘Bitesize’ output, and will be including more broadcast educational content.
Key, she said, is maintaining a routine and varying the day, just as happens in school.
Keep the weekends as weekends and the school holidays as a break, but otherwise its best if your youngsters keep to as much of a school day timetable as possible.