Much has been made of the fact that getting children back into school in September is a top priority for prime minister Boris Johnson and his government, with many pupils having lost out on a significant amount of contact time with their teachers over 2020. While schools have already been preparing themselves by adhering to safety guidelines and implementing new procedures, it by no means guarantees a smooth transition back to the customary running of education, with a number of issues looming large. Speaking on the Leaders Council podcast, Nigel Attwood, headteacher of Bellfield Junior School in Birmingham, discussed his views about what the education sector and indeed society can expect as schools return.
Reflecting on the beginnings of the Covid-19 lockdown period, Nigel explained that the closure of schools was something that largely took the sector by surprise.
He said: “The challenges have been significant. No headteacher I spoke to was prepared for schools to close, and how we would have to adapt out systems and engage with our staff following on from that. It forced a complete rethink including in the areas of home learning, supporting parents and families, and guidelines have also changed on an almost daily basis which we have head to contend with too.”
When asked about his views on the consistent changes to guidance, Nigel was critical of what he perceived as a lack of clarity.
“The guidance has not been clear. We have had to deal with a multitude of guidance coming out when we’ve already been trying to implement processes that we were told to bring in at an earlier date. For example, some measures were announced on June 3 after schools had begun reopening two days earlier, and some have been announced on a Friday night just as we entered half-term.
“With all of that in mind, we have had to constantly adjust and change, fill out more paperwork, and it has been difficult to keep up to date and balance that with doing the best we can for the school community.”
Yet, for how significant the challenges have been throughout the pandemic thus far, Nigel warned that the most pressing ones are likely to come in September when schools return full-time and the impact of the crisis on school communities becomes far more apparent.
He explained: “September will be difficult. It depends of course on where your school is, be that a deprived community or an affluent area, the age of pupils you cater for, and other factors. No matter how much you adapt, every school is different and has its own unique issues.
“We have not always agreed a full consensus with other schools on what to do next because our issues are so different. Until we see our children, it’s difficult to know how difficult it will be, but we imagine we’ll have to contend with the issue that we will have some children who have kept up with home working and have maybe had one-to-one tutoring, and others who will have fallen behind and not done much learning in the last six months and will have inevitably forgotten some things.
“Consideration for mental health has been massive during this time and that will continue to be something for us to bear in mind. We have had families who have struggled through lockdown, and we know from data that domestic violence and mental health issues are up in Birmingham. Other issues have also come to the fore and we have not been able to support families in our normal way. So, we are preparing staff, our pastoral care team, and others for those oncoming challenges in September.”
Quizzed by interviewer, Scott Challinor, over how effective he had felt remote learning provision had been during the lockdown period and whether he saw it as potentially playing a key role in future education delivery, Nigel talked down the idea of turning to remote resources as a blanket solution for every child.
He said: “We can’t use remote learning as a one fits all scenario. We found in weekly calls with parents that some families were struggling with online resources, because maybe there were several family members sharing one device, or maybe some did not have internet access at all. So there has been significant demand for paper resources with the material used on our online platforms, and we found that a third of pupils were not accessing online resources at all and others were struggling to get onto certain programmes.
“It ties into the fact that different schools have different issues depending on where they are and the communities that they are having to work with.”
Although the experience of managing the school and working with its community through the pandemic has been a fundamentally challenging one, he remained keen to take positives from rising to the challenge.
“I have learnt during this time that so many of our staff will go above and beyond to support children and families, deliver food parcels, and provide other vital services. It has highlighted to me the importance of teamwork, sharing of ideas and collaboration to put the best plans in place, and shown us all that the education community will stick together and do the best it can for the children.”
Nigel also remained unfazed by the challenges on the horizon in roughly one month’s time, and Bellfield Junior School has its own plan to face such issues head on by ensuring its pupils are nurtured back into their learning routine, as opposed to forcing it upon them.
He outlined: “Our priority is going to be getting children back into the school routine in September and to get to know the children again, get them to know us, and allow them a chance to discuss what has happened this year, open up about their hopes and fears and listen to other opinions.
“It is also about getting them ready to learn again as much as getting them learning. We can only look at trying to bring learning back in once they are ready and in a good head-space. Once we have done that, hopefully they will be ready to catch up on what has been missed. The gap in their abilities may have changed considerably from several months ago, but we do not know to what extent yet.”
In Nigel Attwood’s own words, leaders in schools and other institutions are people who must establish a vision, take others with them in establishing that vision, and be able to guide, motivate and inspire a team and allow the talents of those within the team to make the institution a success. Another critical element is belief in oneself and others and taking on board different ideas. Should the education sector continue to hold these values close to its heart and show such strong leadership, it will be best placed to face what is to come.
