Looking back on a second successive academic year that has been blighted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Gary Nott, headteacher of St. Bede’s Catholic Primary School and Nursery in Redbridge, Essex, pays tribute to the dedication of everyone within the school community and looks forward to the challenges ahead.
The end of another school year has arrived! For the second successive year, it has been a little unusual – at times, perhaps more than a little! However, the children have made great progress and behaved superbly well; the staff have worked their socks off; and parents have been overwhelmingly supportive. I have enjoyed every single moment of it and realise just how fortunate I am to be leading this wonderful school – every day is hugely enjoyable.
There will be changes to the way we manage Covid-19 in the autumn term. Schools are being told to expect an increase in cases when we return, so at the moment I do not know exactly when I will change things significantly. It may well be from the start of term, but I need to see how things are during the holidays.
Moving forward, schools are expected to be constantly changing to better meet the needs of the children and parents who make up their community. In the last eighteen months, there has been less of this strategic work. The school has further improved some of its approaches, but much of what we have been doing has been about management not leadership. We have been so consumed by day-to-day events, we have not had much opportunity to look up and think where we are going! This will change in the autumn, as we are able to make more time for long-term planning.
In September as we return, we will be faced with many challenges. At the forefront of my mind as this school’s leader, are three questions:
- How will we ensure we will be successful in implementing the Government’s new intentions for the teaching of phonics to our youngest children?
- Will we proceed next school year with the Diocese’s desire to see us become an academy and member of a Catholic Multi-Academy Trust?
- Will we be judged by Ofsted as delivering an outstanding curriculum?
Our school development plan, which will be published before the October half-term, will identify how we intend to go about answering each of these questions, as well as dealing with various other challenges in school life.
A very famous icon of the last century once said: “We are special around here because we keep moving forward”. There will be a prize for the first child to tell me in September, who that person was, and I doubt that there is a single child in this school who at some point has not been touched by his genius.
Moving through the autumn term, I would very much like us to move toward becoming a paperless school to cut down on our environmental impact, wherever possible. All staff and governors will be asked to commit to this goal.
We have a number of reasons for pursuing this. The school currently spends in the region of £10,000 a year on paper. This money can be better used elsewhere. As a school, we are becoming increasingly aware of our absolute responsibilities to safeguard the personal data of pupils, parents and staff. Electronic documents can be password protected. Communication via email is quicker than post and electronic documents are more readily retrievable when necessary.
As the children constantly remind me, the planet has limited resources – we will literally be saving trees. I have some initial ideas as to how we can move forward: teachers will no longer be asked to keep paper copies of their lesson plans – their electronic copies will be sufficient; teachers will no longer send paper reports or targets home – these will come via email; parents will no longer be asked to send letters to school – all communication with the school will be via email [or phone or video calls];teachers will no longer hold paper copies of children’s personal and sensitive data in a classroom file; in school, no-one will print children’s assessment data for their use or that of colleagues; Educational Health Care Plans will be shared with parents via secure email to as will Care Plans.
We will also use electronic signatures in school wherever possible. We try to ensure that our electronic communication with parents can be accessed via PCs, laptops and iPhones – using easy to access APPs where we can, to allow parents to access, amongst other things, their children’s latest test results.
As I write this, we are of course looking ahead to the summer holidays and how we might spend them. You may recall your own school summer holidays as a child. When I recall mine, I think of watching children’s television on most mornings – those of you who are over 55 and grew up in England may also recall watching ‘White Horses’, ‘Flashing Blades’ and ‘Tintin’. Although, I realise that it may be your children’s grandparents who are more likely to be able to remember these shows.
I also recall an annual holiday to Cornwall and a trip to the farm, zoo and circus. Readers, I hope your children will build memories with parents during this summer’s school closure. Some of our school’s families will be venturing abroad, staycationing or remaining at home with the occasional day trip planned – weather and family finances understandably will have influenced that decision. Each of these types of holiday have been enjoyed by my children and me. I have recommended to the children that they immerse themselves in reading this summer: whether it be comics, magazines, newspapers, menus; information books, poetry or stories, this will keep them from being bored and will prepare them very well for their next school year. I don’t expect them to work but I would like them to read – on the beach, in the garden, in bed, on the sofa, on the train, in the car, on the bus!
Whatever you are doing as you read this, stay safe – catch some sunshine and most importantly enjoy some laughter with your children. Meanwhile, we look forward to the new school year.
God Bless.
