How are families in the South coping with homeschooling?

  • Video report by ITV News Meridian's Sarah Saunders

It is one month today (Monday 20th) since schools closed for most pupils, meaning millions of parents have had to take on the task of teaching their children at home, often juggling that with the responsibility of work.

Alicia Reilly from Basingstoke homeschooling her children Credit: ITV Meridian

For the Reilly family from Basingstoke, it's been a learning curve.

Mother Alicia Reilly says: "There are good days and there are bad days - I think the good days I could be a homeschooler for the rest of my life, then there are bad days where one, two or three are throwing tantrums and then there is homeschool on top of that."

Schools have reacted quickly, with some putting curriculums online.

Brakenhale School in Bracknell has been raising money for those children with no access to Wifi or a device at home.

Headteacher Jane Coley says: "We have been recommissioning our own laptops but we just don't have enough. On top of that we've been printing everything out onto paper and delivering that to the houses, but its not as good for the young people than seeing their teacher online. It's absolutely vital that we get hardware and software into every child's home. The government initiative is fantastic and will help us to be able to do that, but it doesn't cover all young people"

Brackenhale School in Bracknell has been recommissioning its own laptops to pupils at home. Credit: ITV Meridian

For people who are feeling overwhelmed by home-schooling, Laura Sutcliffe, a primary school teacher and mother of two from Deal, posted these words of reassurance on her Instagram account.

Here's what some children in our region have been learning about!