Education is one arena that has suffered greatly throughout the 2020 Pandemic. Here, experienced practitioner, Scott Biggs, explores the industry for Northern Insight looking at the challenges that will be faced in the sector going forward.
“Education has always been a given in our lifetime in the UK.
There has rarely been a time when schools were closed and
children could not access education. However, with the recent
impact of the 2020 pandemic, the education profession has
had to be resilient alongside public key workers.
“Teachers have faced over 30 different guidance documents and
announcements since February, with over 100 coronavirus updates
for the sector, meaning teams have had to be agile to tick the right
boxes. Many of these updates happened days before the new term,
which caused a frantic reactive challenge for a sector that is well
known for proactive planning.
“It has been great testament to the entire sector that this guidance
was developed and put into practice so quickly to keep pupils and
staff safe. The resounding agreement is that despite what unions
say, staff just want to do their jobs!
“Even though each school is unique with its own priorities, each
one is passionate about helping children and if staff have to rethink
certain logistics to do that, then we will. But for now, there are
clearly three large challenges that we face.
“Firstly, we have to tackle the learning lost during Lockdown
1.0. During this time, schools had to quickly create sessions that
children could access online or create work booklets to be sent
home.
“Schools had to assume most parents would support their children
if the information and methods were distributed by the schools.
There was of course, no guarantee that the work was being
implemented correctly at home.
“And on return to the classroom there were varying numbers and
restrictions imposed which had an impact on the quality of lessons
being taught.
“Studies now show there is around a 3 month delay to where the
children are relative to where they should have been. The challenge
now is to ensure that our children ‘make up’ for this lost time.
“To tackle this, primary schools have redesigned timetables to
focus on each pupil’s core learning in maths, reading and writing
to speed up progression and close the gap. But to balance that and
to ensure the children aren’t rushed, there needs to be a long term
planning structure, constant analysis, assessments and an approach
that acknowledges that there are no quick fixes to correcting the
loss of education.
“The second challenge lies in providing ongoing remote learning
for children who need to isolate due to infection or exposure to a
Covid-infected individual. Teachers are expected to have immediate
solutions for these children to continue their learning from home
for up to 14 days; sometimes longer if multiple infections affect
a family.
“The DfE have expectations that include the provision of high
quality online tools, video’s, educational resources and other online
resources. Offline tools are also expected to be provided including
printed resources, textbooks and workbooks for those who do not
have online access or are too young to undertake online access
without full parental interaction.
“Planned, well sequenced curriculum assignments with clear
explanations are important along with a regular gauging of how
well the pupils are progressing. Schools are having to ensure
teachers are able to adjust the pace or difficulty of what is being
taught, and it must be acknowledged that this creates a level of
work that means these teachers need their own support from
senior leaders, head teachers, heads of year and bodies including
Ofsted.
“Investment in technology is needed, alongside clear expectations
to be set for each child. Teachers should have options available to
them and should use informed personalised planning. The schools
which are the most successful at this have invested in interactive
platforms such as Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams and have
a policy in place outlining teacher to pupil expectations, along with
the offered support and guidance from DfE and Ofsted.
“The third and currently most discussed challenge is of course in
managing mental health and wellbeing for pupils, staffs and the
wider education community. The emotional rollercoaster of the
pandemic has affected us all, and it is critical that school leaders
acknowledge the impact not just on pupils but on staff.
“Many have suffered losses, experienced the disease first hand,
felt financial insecurity, vulnerability, been subject to domestic
violence, abuse or neglect during lockdown. Hunger has been
high on the country’s radar during half term for children and we
progress into the colder, winter months. On top of this, there are
of course the stresses associated with social distancing including
losing friends, networks and support structures , which is incredibly
impactful for all ages.
“The changes in school including wearing masks, separation
from other year groups, strict formation of bubbles and even the
layout of the classroom causes stress for all involved. School may
not be the safe, warm learning environment it used to be and
school leaders need to recognise the signs for those who may be
struggling, putting in place processes and support structures to
provide the time and opportunity for these issues to be out in the
open and discussed.
“There should be routes in place for staff and pupils to access
support and counselling in the form of listening should be
encouraged at every level so people are heard. Bespoke plans
should be put in place for anyone identified as struggling, and
indeed some schools have appointed a member of staff that solely
concentrates on this.
“Ultimately, schools, senior leaders, PTA’s, teachers and pupils
should not shy away from talking about these challenges
originating from the pandemic, acknowledging the changes we are
all now facing and how it makes us feel.
“Open communication should be encouraged at every level, with
schools facilitating the needs of teachers and of pupils to learn,
develop relationships and follow routines and structures that keep
us all safe.”
Scott will be back in February’s edition discussing challenges in the
education sector and some meaningful ways forward.
