How's school going? Here's what readers are telling us
As term two began in Victoria on Tuesday, we asked readers how the first day 'back' at school was going for them. Thousands of Victorian families have officially begun the challenge of learning from home, while others were among the few to turn up to classrooms.
A drawing by Hannah Lemon, year 9, on learning from home.
Technical glitches, confusion, and anxiety about the ability of parents to simultaneously help their kids and work were among common concerns.
Others seem to have it sorted, with timetables stuck to kitchen cupboards, and great guidance from schools and teachers. Here's just a sample of what you told us. Some responses have been edited.
It's a disaster
An absolute nightmare! Three kids, Grade 2 Grade 5 and Year 7. Wifi is dropping in and out, Grade 2 can’t concentrate with the noise, distraction. He needs the structure of a classroom environment at school. My other 2 children are trying their best. Kids need routine and structure. This is experimental learning at best, and not what my children deserve. Open schools up Dan Andrews! You’re at odds with the PM on this. - Anonymous
My daughter's first day back, she is doing year 12 VCAL online at Nagle College, Bairnsdale. The online website crashed. She is now having a day off. - Charley Daniel
It's a disaster, school says they'll be teaching for about 2 hours per day. Parents of primary school kids can't work at home and supervise kids learning at the same time. Need one teacher and 1 assistant teacher online seven hours per day per class, this will allow 1:1 teacher discussions while the other staffer supervises the rest of the class online. - James
Congratulations to the NBN who have chosen this morning to conduct three hours of planned maintenance in our area between 9am and 5pm. Excellent for all the distance learners. - Ellie
It would help if they gave us more info other than we're back at school and log in online to empty portals. They've had weeks to get sorted! - Anonymous
I'm sure it would be fine if I didn't have to work. But it seems the government position is to make me choose between keeping my job vs education for my 5-year-old. - Anonymous
It's a nightmare having a 15-year-old turning 16 "studying from home". I cannot micromanage him whilst I am working from home. - John
Evie Macheda, 5, starts remote learning at home on the first day of term two.Credit:Tanya Macheda
I have three younger brothers (two in year 9 and one in year 11) who are unable to get onto their school’s online portal to complete activities/schoolwork. I’m just glad that I finished year 12 last year! - Matthew Kanizay
Dreadful. Clearly our government thinks working from home is a joke, and we all have plenty of spare time to supervise children. Grade Preps don't learn without supervision, and parents who are working hard (which is the case for most of us who still do have jobs) don't have the ability to provide this supervision. - Anonymous
Poorly organised by school and even with a laptop and three ipads a lot of the tech and applications pretty hit and miss. Stressed kids x 2 and frustrated parent, impossible to work from home while home schooling concurrently. Nil productivity for ANYONE. All because teachers don't see their role as essential and just do their job, like all the others doing their jobs and keeping the community and society moving. - Walter
Lots of information etc. for schools, but no information, direction or support for kindergartens! - Anonymous
After 30 minutes both my kids are crying and my wife is angry at me. I now have a greater respect for teachers. Let's pay them more. - Anonymous
As a teacher, this has been worse than any day at school. It has been a constant barrage of questions from almost every corner including kids who for some reason now can't read instructions, we still have to contact students we haven't heard from (over half of our cohort) whilst reviewing work etc. It's been a nightmare! Give me face-to-face teaching anytime... - Peter
I'm hiding in the staff room. - Natalie Bailey
Not so good. I have a grade 1 and grade 2. We just finished today's tasks (11.40am), so we have been busy for 3 hours. I took the day off work to get them started, but I can't do this everyday. I'm about to go to the school to see if they will be able to attend tomorrow. If both parents are working during the day then this isn't going to work for very long. ScoMo is right. - Anonymous
It is an absolute nightmare. You are given a few tasks and then are expected to sit next to the child to help them do it. The teacher meets the class for 15 minutes each morning. That is it. It's impossible to hold down a full-time job. Am concerned that I will now have performance issues at work. I am a single parent. - Lissie
WebEx failed. 15 minutes with the teacher daily online is apparently all we are getting (state primary school). Feeling a lack of leadership from the school and very unclear what I am supposed to be doing! - Richard
Very frustrating! Lots of connection issues and no face-to-face teaching. Just multiple tasks set for completion. - Anonymous
Aaaaaargh! - Tim
Chaos, this is home schooling, not remote learning, not sure how two parents working from home are supposed to undertake this. 1. We are only just receiving instructions late last night and this morning. 2. Online services are outdated and do not work on Android devices (they rely on Adobe Flash, which is at end of life and being discontinued). 3. School of the Air has been running since 1951 with more success than this. - Ian
As a year 12 VCE student who has never been able to study at home, today has been really stressful and distracting. - Anonymous
Not too bad, actually
I'm a teacher and so far, so good! A very large volume of emails at the moment but we've been able to work through most issues. - Callum
Better than expected! My two eldest daughters are plugged into their iPads, and will be until 3.15pm following their grade 1 and grade 4 curriculum with their whole class through Zoom. My 1 year old is plugged into The Wiggles! I'm worried about so much screen time, but it is better than the alternative- which would be me! Tricky with a 1 year old. Aside from hearing about some very sad staffing issues through The Age, the girls school has been super organised and I have every confidence they will have a great virtual term. - Olivia
Timetables all sorted-kids made it up yesterday so we'd know who had what and when - Donna Lancaster
Donna Lancaster's four children made this timetable to help them negotiate home school a little easier.Credit:Donna Lancaster
Pretty easy to be quite honest. (Even though I'm in year 12 and still confused on what the VCAA are doing) Considering it will be a half day of school with only having 3 classes. - Nick
It's going as well as can be expected: by which I mean we have agreed to a plan, a 'timetable' that includes some breaks - for all of us - and we'll see how it works today, and work together to improve tomorrow. It's a team effort. - Anonymous
Considering the circumstances, I would say pretty good! Difficult to motivate my children as they still feel like they're in holiday mode but we're getting through it. This isn't an ordinary turn of events and you can't put the blame on the teachers nor the government. Keep your patience and try a bit harder as everyone is in the same boat! - Anonymous
Pretty good. Joined a call this morning at 9:30 am. The call ended at 10:20 am and I have been doing the assigned work since then! - Sebastiano Byrne
As a teacher in a state school, my kids don't fully return until Friday but I have sent work out for them to complete. Almost all of my kids have completed it this morning because 'they are bored and want to return to school'. I think this will be much more successful than originally thought! - Anonymous
Beautiful. Kids self-motivated and happy. Internet working for all. No complaints here. - Sophie
Surprisingly smoothly. I have three teenage sons (years 9, 11 and 12) and they seem to have adapted very well. My main concern was the capacity of the NBN, touch wood, no issues so far. I am fairly tech savvy but I am nowhere near my sons who are all 'digital natives' and seem to have embraced the new learning environment. As a parent I was really pleased to hear all three of my sons actively participating in classroom discussions. Finally, I would like to thank all teachers and support staff who have been working incredibly hard to make this work. We would agree that it isn't ideal but under the circumstances it seems the best option. - Peter Redden
I have a year 12 and year 10 - all went perfectly. Our school went online two weeks before the end of term - all issues ironed out. Microsoft teams worked well. Teachers teaching for the whole class. Kudos to the school and the teachers. - Anonymous
Time will tell...
Eight-year-old Zack Wong sent this drawing of his Easter in isolation.Credit:Zack Wong
It started very positively. The kids were ready by 8.30am, and we flew into the basics, literacy and numeracy, and all done by 11.20am. I am hiding my anxiety. There is no way I can produce high quality strategic plans and reports whilst overseeing my children in their learning. My employer (state government) is flexible in every respect, and clear in their communications, that they are here for us to find the "balance". But in this scenario, there is no balance to be found. The way I could find balance would be to take leave without pay, or at half pay. But that's not a financially viable option for my family. I feel our essential services like supermarkets and triage have been able to put effective hygiene protocols in place that are working. Please, we need to install these protocols at our school gates and get our kids back in. Social distancing can continue in the home and authorities regulate accordingly. But our kids are the losers in all this. No school, no social contacts, no playgrounds..... it's gone, overnight. Living their young lives via a virtual reality should not be our go to option, until we're in a position where school hygiene is insufficient protection. - Kate Hill
The screaming and shouting has subsided a little now, but it's going to be a very long term! - Anonymous
First day back at school is going okay but a poor substitute for kids interacting directly with teacher and classmates. I can only comment on primary school age kids but the more kids you have in different years - particularly below grade 4, the trickier it is for the parent to co-ordinate. It's not remote learning - there's no chance the parent can get on with their own work - it's constant supervision. - Anonymous
I'm a primary school teacher and I've been on call with families and students regarding learning at home since 9am. Yes it is hectic. Parents are going to be overwhelmed. Teachers are overwhelmed. Think about the teachers who have children of their own who also need to support their own child. Everyone is learning. But it is only temporary. As much as I would love to be in a classroom with 30 of my students, I'd rather everyone is safe and healthy for the time being. In the grand scheme of things, this is a time period we can learn and adapt to challenge our persistence! Good luck to all families, parents, students and teachers on term 2. - Anonymous