Parents and carers were responsible for overseeing their children’s learning during the first wave of COVID restrictions in Australia. Many parents in Melbourne and some in regional Victoria will still be doing this for some of term four.

We surveyed and interviewed parents and carers of primary school-aged children in Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and the ACT to explore their experiences of helping their children with remote schooling.

We asked parents to rate their levels of agreement with statements such as "I felt the school provided enough guidance for me to support my child while learning from home" and "I feel that my child has continued to progress in their education during the home-learning period".

Out of the 131 responses to the survey during July and August, 22% of parents found their experience good, 34% found it poor and 44% reported mixed feelings. While 72% of parents and carers agreed schools provided enough guidance to support children while learning at home, this was not the case for 28% of people. And 68% indicated they found themselves teaching beyond provided materials.

This suggested a number of parents were taking a proactive role in their children’s learning and exploring areas of interest beyond the scope of the work allocated, even where they found it adequate.