Big rise in home educated children in North YorkshireHarrogate district parents ‘crushed’ about schools not reopening

For many parents in the Harrogate district, yesterday’s announcement that schools were unlikely to fully reopen until at least March 8 was not what they wanted to hear.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said reopening was dependent on “lots of things going right”, including infection rates.

It means many parents and guardians are looking at another lengthy stint as teachers, placing more stress in particular on working parents.

Although parents agree safety is paramount, they are concerned about the impact of lengthy home schooling.

Sally Haslewood, who is managing director of Harrogate Mumbler and a mother of two daughters, said:

“I am really struggling with home schooling them both as well as trying to keep them healthy, happy and run my own business. To be perfectly honest, Boris’ statement last night was crushing.

“The general feeling amongst the other parents I speak to is that they are all incredibly fed up and don’t know how long they will cope for. The emotional drain of it all is an absolute killer.”

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Laura Berryman, from Bilton, is home schooling two children while caring for a four-month-old baby. She said the announcement only “enhances the feelings of stress and failure”.
“It was really deflating. I have friends who can’t work at the moment so have no income. I thought of them, and how much the kids are missing their friends and it all becomes overwhelming.
“I am finding home schooling extremely difficult as they are just nowhere near as engaged as they would be at school.”

Mental health

Tracy Atkinson, a mum-of-two from Harrogate, agreed it was right to delay schools fully reopening but has concerns about the mental health impact on parents and children. She said:
“We all saw the numbers escalate in September when the schools and universities reopened, and if we are to get out of this mess we need to get the numbers right down otherwise we will be back to square one again.
“I worry about mental health, mine included. My son has had his head in his studies every day since this started, but with no idea as to what is happening with A-levels and how things will be graded it is a concern.”

Resit year

Kerry Windsor. who lives in Killinghall with two children, suggested offering students a resit year but added it won’t be possible to know when it will be safe for all children to go back to school until the effectiveness of the vaccine is clear. She added:
“My youngest has autism and struggles socially and certainly isn’t ready to start high school next year. My eldest has found it incredibly difficult to complete art assignments due to the resources needed from school. I feel that to put them back a year would be so beneficial.”
Another mother-of-two from Nidderdale agreed, who did not wish to be named, agreed a resit year would be a good ideal. She said:
“The children have missed an awful lot of schooling. I think it is only fair for those that want the opportunity to catch up to have the opportunity to re-take the year. By missing so much they are at a huge disadvantage!”