27 March 2020
Dear Parents,
I am the councillor in Plymouth responsible for education. I wanted to write to you about the challenges that many of us are likely to face in the coming weeks and months as we try to balance home working with home educating our children.
In my house we have four young children between 2 and 8 years old. Yesterday, I attempted my first day of working from home whilst supporting the children with their education. It was an extremely challenging day for all of us. I know there will be many difficult days ahead juggling work and caring responsibilities.
I can imagine, like my wife and I, many of you will be attempting to replicate the school environment as best you can, putting in place strict minute-by-minute timetables packed full of brilliant learning activities. None of us want our children to miss out.
However, in the coming weeks and months, please keep in mind that, if things don’t go exactly according to plan (and sometimes they won’t), we should all try not to be too hard on ourselves. We are all in the same boat, most of us aren’t trained teachers and we are just struggling through doing the best we can in very difficult circumstances.
With this in mind, it is important to remember that what our children need most of all right now is love and reassurance. So please, when the timetable goes out the window or your 2 year old scribbles all over the exercise books, be forgiving and look after your own health and wellbeing. Remember many of us are in the same position, you are resilient and your children are resilient, and together we will come through this difficult time.
Yours sincerely
Councillor Jon Taylor
Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Transformation