Now that the GCSEs and A-Levels have been cancelled this year, many students and teachers are wondering what to do now.
We are in unprecedented times. This outbreak has forced us to to re-consider what is important to us as we are encouraged to stay away from friends, practise social distancing and isolate ourselves. Academia has taken a backseat. And that’s OK.
Teachers who have been creating virtual classrooms, providing packets of home-school classwork are struggling to figure out how to show their students’ progress, wondering how they will be held accountable because they’re not in a classroom.
Year 11 students are wondering what the point is of studying more this year. Teachers are wondering what to teach them. Parents are wondering how they will convey complex ideas that require degrees in that subject.
Let’s look at life skills rather than panicking about homeschooling. Write a covering letter, design a CV, car maintenance, cooking, creating a food garden, balancing the family budget…all of these skills are teaching in action. Parents can help their children without feeling like they are failing; children finally have the answer to ‘but when will we actually use this in real life?’; and teachers get to do these things with they’re families.
We’re all in this together, let’s change the landscape for the better.
