Writing for the Leaders Council, Bellfield Junior School headteacher Nigel Attwood discusses the many problems that Covid-19 has thrust upon the education sector and society as a whole, urging the government to show robust leadership for all to help guide the country to a more prosperous future.
It was not so long ago that someone asked me what being a leader meant to me. It wasn’t something I had thought of discreetly before, but it did make me stop and reflect about where I had seen great leadership, where I had been inspired by others and how that had shaped my style of leadership. I thought about leaders that I had worked with and had seen that were great communicators [listening as much as talking!], are hardworking and lead by example but with humility and determination, who take responsibility and, above all, care about the people they work with and work for.
In the career I have chosen, in the education sector, I have seen some amazing examples of leadership. Executive heads and headteachers are the obvious ones most of us think of when thinking of school leadership, but schools cannot function without great leaders at every level and in 2020, this has never been more obvious.
However, what concerns me, and many people, is the lack of leadership at the highest level and the fact that education seems to be being left behind. Worse still, is the misinformation that is put forward by our leaders to the public. And even worse still, is how this will affect a generation of children, snowballing into how this will affect their opportunities in their futures.
Education has seen a significant fall in funding for many years. Yes, we can talk about the ‘record’ levels of funding each year, but that disguises the facts. ‘Record’ funding is a result of increasing funding due to rising costs – but this has not been at the rate of inflation each year or the rate of higher utility bills. ‘Record’ funding is because of higher pupil numbers - 1.5 per cent from 2017-2018 [or over 130,000 children]. However, ‘record’ funding has not kept up with inflation or reduced support for schools when other services have been cut - like mental health support and children’s centres, or the rising needs of disadvantaged areas – with all these additional costs being absorbed by schools, as quoted by the Institute of Fiscal Studies in a recent SOS [Save our Schools] meeting.
Indeed, the IFS have regularly disputed ‘record’ funding, with their most recent report on September 18, 2020, stating that “spending per pupil has fallen since 2010–11” and, even with the £7.1 billion promised by the government from 2021-2023, the IFS states that “school spending per pupil in 2022–23 would be no higher in real terms than in 2009–10”. The high needs sector has grown over recent years, with the IFS saying an extra £2 billion is needed just to support this area of education as schools creak and struggle to provide the support children of high needs deserve.
And all this comes before we even take into account the cost of Covid-19 on schools, to which the promise of support has now been rescinded by the government. Currently, in my school alone, we have spent almost £20,000 [in five months], an average of £65 per pupil. With 8.82 million pupils in England, that is over £500 million in extra costs.
‘Catch-up funding’ has been promised, which will be about £80 per pupil we believe. Or, £2400 per average class of 30. Or one tenth of the salary and oncosts of a Teaching Assistant or unqualified teacher. Or one thirteenth of that of an additional teacher. Leaders will be expected to spend this money and report on the impact. As much as any funding is welcome to support the learning of our children, we have to consider the national picture: children missing more time in school because of isolating due to a family member having symptoms or being positive, or being at home due to a ‘bubble’ or a school being closed due to Covid-19 reasons. Meaning, after only eight weeks, many schools are adapting to catch-up with the catch-up for many children.
‘Record’ funding does not allow for the fact that in a national emergency, schools become the fourth emergency service and are supporting families in a variety of ways: food parcels, mental health/anxiety support, IT support, online/ blended learning, supporting the most vulnerable and so much more that can be seen in many, many schools across the country.
And then we come to the most vulnerable. 34 per cent of children in the UK are living in the Government definition of poverty. How is this possible in the fifth largest economy in 2020? Free School Meals must be reviewed so that we don’t have Universal Free School Meals in Reception-Year 2, but so that money is distributed to those most in need now. Families already struggling are the first families to suffer the consequences of a situation globally and nationally like the one that we currently find ourselves in. They are the first to lose jobs in sectors that are being squeezed, the first to suffer mentally when being at home and struggling to make ends meet, and struggling to provide the basics for their children that they would expect to have been able to provide before all of this happened. We see this all too regularly in our school and in schools across the country.
Promises have been made by the government to support families who are in the ‘digital poverty’ bracket, meaning children cannot learn online at home. But, on a Friday afternoon, within weeks of the announcement of support, it is announced they are reducing the allocations to 20 per cent of the original figure.
And all of that is before we start talking all things exams – from A-levels to SATs and what the current system is doing the mental health of our children.
This article is not about the woes of education. In fact, quite the opposite. The majority of people who work in education – in whatever capacity – do so tirelessly, with the school community at the heart of everything they do. These amazing people do so much with so little, adapt and come up with such innovative ways to support their families and the community – and will continue to do so, no matter what.
In the days where things seem impossible and I don’t know which way to turn, I get to walk around my school and see this in action, and I get to talk with inspirational headteachers, school staff and others who support children. On top of this – being with such great children who want to be in school and know we are there for them – that is why we do what we do and why I love my job.
I will leave you with one question: when will our national leadership take all this into consideration, listen to others, and sit down to plan a real future for our education system – and, much more importantly, the future of all our children, the economy and the future of our great country? It is time to see great leadership, for everyone.
Photo by Joshua Eckstein on Unsplash
