Connectivity slows down remote learning

About 100 people attended the recent ICPA's State conference in Perth where mindset coach Claire Eaton spoke on how parents and teachers could help students by not only focussing on their education, but also their mental health and wellbeing.

"Ms Eaton spoke about resilience, optimism and confidence in teenagers and children and gave our members some tips on how to help develop these traits in their children from afar, while they were at boarding school," said ICPA WA president Sally Brindal.

At the conference, ICPA members expressed concerns about issues of internet connectivity, dropouts and long restoration times to get their services back up and running in rural areas.

Ms Brindal expected the influx of parents and students working from home due to COVID-19 would only worsen members' existing issues with local internet speeds and connectivity.

"The congestion on the system is a concern," Ms Brindal said.

"A lot of rural students don't have access to very large plans, so we've had conversations with a few schools in Perth in regards to being prepared for the issues that may come with the move to online learning.

"For myself, I have three kids at home and there is a lot of video streaming and live action happening in the classrooms, so when we're all on the internet at the same time it's really difficult.

"As a result of the internet speeds not being fast enough a lot of it ends up being scratchy, so I do any work I need to do on the internet outside of school hours, but that might not be possible for some other parents who are working from home."

With WA's schools expected to continue with online learning programs next term, Ms Brindal said the organisation was concerned about how rural school students would be affected, with some rural schools not having the same resources as their city counterparts.

"Doing online learning and remote classrooms for a few weeks is certainly different to doing it on a long-term basis," Ms Brindal said.

"A lot of rural schools take on graduate teachers, so with them thrown into the mix of this unique environment and some inevitably on their first postings, it's important to make sure they also have adequate support and mentoring programs so they're not overwhelmed."

In terms of delivery, Ms Brindal said she expected the Department of Education would have set programs for its younger students, as opposed to older students who were more familiar with technology.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been business as usual for ICPA's School of the Air students, whose classes are traditionally conducted by radio and internet due to their geographical isolation.

Ms Brindal said the association's boarding students were also well prepared for the move to online learning, with most having already undertaken online learning programs prior to boarding.

With WA's school boarding school students all required to return home, Ms Brindal said the feedback from parents had been very positive, with most boarding schools still maintaining their pastoral care, making staff available to students who were experiencing issues adjusting to their new learning environment.

The ICPA also plans to lobby the Federal Council to establish a Distance Education Teaching Allowance for those parents who are at home helping with the schooling of their children.

"We would like the allowance to cover those parents for the time they put in outside of the online lessons," Ms Brindal said.

"For example, if you're in the school room all day you can't be outside working on your property, so perhaps you're employing someone to be able to do that.

"A school day is a full day and the children still have to be supervised at home, so we are looking for an allowance and some recognition of that time."

With ICPA's 49th national conference scheduled to take place in August cancelled due to COVID-19, the organisation said the conference would still be going ahead, just in a different format.