CEOs discuss coronavirus issues at Schools North East roundtable
Yesterday Schools North East hosted another of its regular roundtable discussions for Multi-Academy Trust CEOs, representing schools from across the region, to discuss the challenges that schools now face as they deal with the lifting of lockdown restrictions, and begin to plan for the next academic year.
A range of issues were discussed, with schools being open over summer for ‘catch up’ projects being a key concern. It was recognised that such initiatives were unlikely to produce the desired result of closing the academic gap’, with those students who most need this provision being potentially the least likely to engage with it. Disadvantaged pupils already lack adequate home learning, whether this be due to technology access problems, adequate space in which to work, or poor parental engagement. These fears were compounded with concerns of increased absence rates amongst disadvantaged pupils come September. There was a genuine fear that summer opening would fail in its objectives and could exacerbate the disadvantage gap.
Rather, schools are thinking about strategies for September. There was widespread agreement that the likely learning loss that will be produced by coronavirus will be a long term issue that cannot be solved by short term initiatives. Indeed, many of the challenges that the coronavirus lockdown is throwing up are not new, but exacerbation of pre-existing problems. Schools North East have previously argued for longer term thinking in education policy, and this is needed now more than ever.
While schools are already making plans for different September opening scenarios and their different contextual challenges, the work and long term planning of schools has been made extremely difficult by the lack of clear guidance from central government. This is particularly the case around those in Years 10 and 12, due to sit exams next year. Guidance from Ofqual and DfE is desperately needed to ensure schools have adequate time in which to plan the curriculum next year. CEOs were concerned that if no changes were made to examinations or flexibility was not allowed for schools to address their specific learning losses, then there wouldn’t be time to cover the full curriculum.
This uncertainty is also having a serious impact on staff wellbeing. Several CEOs reported increased resignation rates among teachers. This is an exacerbation of existing problems, with many teachers re-evaluating their work/life balance as they work from home. Senior Leadership Teams are under particular pressure, having little to no time to switch off, having worked through february half term break, the Easter holiday and May half term as well. This consideration makes summer opening of special concern, as it threatens staff burnout and further turning people away from the teaching profession.
Despite these many challenges, there were also many positives identified. Schools have learned and become proficient in a range of new ways of working, which are expected to be maintained post-crisis, as they bring many benefits to teachers and school leaders. Within MATs, the crisis has galvanised schools and seen an upsurge in much closer inter-school collaboration. This collaboration has extended to other agencies (such as with social care) and has established schools within the wider community as the most trusted agency that currently supports them; something that is strongest in the most deprived communities. Virtual technology means that meetings have been made easier, allowing for shorter but more frequent meetings. And schools have learnt how to deliver remote learning, and blended learning approaches that will likely be vital come September.
Going forward, one CEO argued that schools must now be bolder and more confident in the decisions they make, and stand up for the important work they are doing. The decisions schools make are always from an educational point of view, to ensure the best outcomes for children with consideration of the specific settings that individual schools operate in. Schools North East will continue to champion this, and through the feedback we gain through roundtables such as this ensure a louder voice for our region’s schools at the national level.