A headteacher in a rural school in North Yorkshire has warned of a “gap in provision” for rural pupils if they are forced to learn at home due to schools closing because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lisa Armstrong, headteacher of Lythe Church of England Primary School, four miles north of Whitby, said her teachers would struggle to deliver lessons online because of a lack of broadband in the area.
She said her maintained school, with 65 pupils and 4 teachers, had a plan in place for remote learning that involved the use of printed teaching packs, which could be posted to pupils where they didn’t have internet access - but she said that could mean her school lagged behind urban schools in the run-up to Sats.
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She said: “Potentially, you have got a big city school managing to keep lessons going through video conferencing while we’re having to send out the packs. And we’re leading up to Sats.
She added: “Infrastructure is not good here. There are two teachers who I don’t contact by email. They’re connected to the internet but it’s not 100 per cent reliable.”
“There are some families who can’t connect to the internet. The other question is that not all families will have devices and certainly not multiple devices.”
Ms Armstrong also said her school had been unable to afford an online learning platform. She said: “It’s something we’ve not been able to invest in, unlike bigger schools, because it’s very expensive.”
Neil Short of the National Association of Small Schools said: “It is not just whether the school can support [distance learning], it’s whether the pupils at home have got the technology to do so.
“Broadband signal varies enormously across the country - even an Ofsted inspector couldn’t get a broadband signal while inspecting a school in Cumbria.
“We assume that most pupils have tablets and computers but access is going to be an issue.”
