Parents’ survey seeks insight into learning during lockdown

PARENTS in Carmarthenshire are being asked to share their thoughts and experiences of lockdown.

Thousands of children have been home-schooled since Welsh Government restrictions forced the closure of schools in March, and whilst teachers have been able to connect with pupils parents have played a huge role in their children’s education.

Carmarthenshire County Council is keen to learn from this experience and gain a clear picture of the challenges that families have faced over the last few months.

A wide-ranging survey has been launched to gather this feedback, which will help inform and shape education locally in the coming weeks.

Parents will receive the online survey directly from their children’s school, and they’ll be asked about how their children have coped with online learning, what emotional challenges they have faced, and what has worked well.

Cllr Glynog Davies, Executive Board Member for Education and Children’s Services, said: “We would like to hear from parents, and gain a real insight into what their experience has been. Our teachers and education staff have worked extremely hard to support children and parents, including providing learning resources and lessons, lending IT equipment, and making regular calls to families to see what help they need. We have also provided care for children of key workers, continued to provide a counselling service and support to families with vulnerable children.

“But this survey will help us as we look ahead, we need to be sure that we consider parents’ concerns and feedback to ensure that we put the right provision in place to support our children.

“I encourage parents to take part in our survey – I can’t stress enough how important this feedback is for our learning and planning.”