(CMR) Parents of John A. Cumber Primary School in West Bay have expressed their frustrations on social media after receiving notifications yesterday from principal Wright that students must wear their full uniform or PE kits when attending virtual Zoom meetings held online.
Whilst parents have taken to social media to express their angst at the new rules the principal has always taken to her Facebook page to explain her motives and frustrations at having to issue such a directive in the first place.
The email notification was sent late yesterday afternoon and stated that the decision was made to implement these stricter rules after some concerns were raised in the sessions about how children were dressing for their live meetings:
“Recently, there have been some significant concerns island-wide with child safety and safeguarding specifically with “live” online learning sessions. Therefore, the necessary precautions have to be implemented to guarantee the safeguarding of all students and protection of all teachers during these live sessions.”
Apparently, there have been some instances where students were either not fully clothed or “dressed inappropriately” causing a disruption to the other participants and teachers. With teachers having “no control over the devices being used by students” the decision was made to require all students to be fully dressed in their school uniforms.
There have also been parents not dressing appropriately but being fully visible on the video calls and screen recording teachers at times during the meeting. It shared that:
“There have even been incidents where parents decide to record teachers without their knowledge which is absolutely wrong and unacceptable.”
Parents have expressed their position sharing that the requirements are causing unnecessary stress on parents who already have a lot to manage children whilst working from home. One mother shared:
The new policy was also addressed by Principal Jovanna Wright last night on her Facebook page where she shared that as a parent and school leader she fully understands the added complexity of the requirements; however, a few have made this a necessity.
She stated that few understand how tirelessly they have been working over the past few weeks during the COVID-19 crisis.
Noting that she seldom shares her opinions publicly:
“in this cold and heartless world, the good will always suffer for the bad, the minority will always attempt to undermine and sway the majority and there will always be individuals who are never satisfied … Day after day, I leave my beautiful children at home and I go to school where I am responsible for over 500 students and over 75 staff members. Not once have I ever hesitated or thought twice … 2020 has been a challenging year for educators but the past two months have been insane.”
Ultimately, the goal of the educators is preventing any serious incidents from occurring and safeguarding the safety and well being of the children in their case, even during virtual sessions:
Some parents have indicated they will not be adhering to these new requirements :
A follow-up email from Wright stated that students who do not comply will only be allowed to attend pre-recorded and not live sessions.
There is no indication that this policy has been adopted across the board as the Ministry of Education has not issued a public statement for all schools.
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