Behind the Scenes in UK Schools

So its been just over 2 weeks since the majority of British children returned to their schools, nurseries and sixth forms and already we are seeing a huge number of children being sent home, being asked to self isolate with their bubbles or with potential covid symptoms, waiting (sometimes what feels like indefinitely) for tests and overall attempt to navigate with their families their way through this ‘new normal’. We are all feeling very anxious.

As parents, we’re having to adjust to a big change in our routine and after having our children at home for the last 6 months; have very mixed emotions about dropping our children off at the school gates each morning; worrying about the impact this new method of schooling may have on our children’s wellbeing and education.

As admin to the Corona Parents Lockdown Group on Facebook, I have understandably seen a lot of strong emotions being shared by parents, with some venting their frustrations about the actions their schools are or aren’t taking when the schools returned in September. I couldn’t help but feel that some people were critisising some of the restrictions being put in place without fully appreciating the work that has gone on behind the scenes to try and keep our children and staff safe.

I decided to put a call out to chat anonymously to a number of teachers in both infants, primary, secondary and SEND schools across the UK about their experiences of teaching during a pandemic, their new ways of working, their fears and concerns and what it has been like attempting to get our children back to the environment they are used to. Over 30 members of school staff responded including Head Teachers, NQTs and Teaching Assistants, and spoke incredibly openly about their experiences. I wanted to share their words to highlight that as parents, we are quite simply only seeing the tip of the iceberg. I hope that by sharing their comments, we can learn to fully appreciate just how much our teachers and school support staff are doing to try and keep our children safe, often at great personal sacrifice.

Here are just some of the questions I asked, and the range of responses received.

Overall how are you feeling about returning to school / educational settings?

The majority of the teachers and support staff I spoke to were really happy to be returning to their schools; having missed their children incredibly and being keen to return to doing what they love. That said, this didn’t take away from the fact that they were nervous, unsure of how safe or how practical some of the precautions would be.

“I’m honestly thrilled to be returning, I missed the kids incredibly and want every chance to feel ‘normal’. That said I am nervous and I have to admit I did create a will, just in case”

“I was extremely anxious about returning to school as my husband was in heart failure in January and is currently waiting for an appointment from the transplant team.”

“I am nervous. I have missed seeing the children so much over the Summer but I have two children of my own and elderly parents who I now wont be able to see. I live in an area subject to local lockdown and cases in the area within school settings are becoming more common.”

“I am glad to be back, apprehensive about how far behind the children might be and worried about how much curriculum there is to get through given the amount of school missed and the time taken out of the day due to COVID stuff (eg. approximately 1 hour lost every day to official hand washing etc!)”

“I am happy to be able to see my students and teach them again but despite all of the changes, it still seems very risky. I am worried because one size doesn’t fit all and it’s been almost impossible to implement some of the guidance on our cramped old site.”

“I work as a special support assistant with pupils with additional support needs. Seeing how nervous some of the students and staff were during lockdown made me concerned how everyone would cope with returning. We had (and still have) some pupils who cannot face coming back in.”

What is your own family situation? 

When asking this I wanted to understand the scale of potential exposure these teachers are experiencing. Many teachers have children of their own, in a number of educational settings, meaning the exposure to other families goes far beyond the concept of a simple ‘bubble’. It’s also important to remember here that our teachers and school staff may too have family members who are vulnerable or in an at risk category.

“My job involves me being in a bubble of at least 260 if I work with one year group but that can vary depending on need. I have 2 children at home – one in a bubble of 30 and another at a childminders”.

“I have children, and my Father in law is currently in hospital. When at home has carers 4 times a day. We have to be extremely careful now we are back at school and its so much harder to support my mother in law.”

“I have 2 children of my own, one of whom has severe asthma, so it’s obviously a bit of a worry that I could bring something home or that he could pick something up at his own school.”

How has the communication from parents changed?

From my own personal experience as a parent I know that communication styles have had to change; but it’s interesting to understand the impact that this lack of personal contact has on the teachers too.

“More communication is expected to take place online or by phone call as parents can’t visit the office or speak to the teachers before school. They can sometimes catch them briefly after school but not as easily as before. The methods of communicating online have not changed we have just increased the amount done online.”

“As stunted as this method of communication can be, I also worry about the parents and pupils that aren’t asking questions. Normally a parent or carer would quickly grab me at the end of the day for reassurance and support and now due to masks and not crossing lines in the playground they don’t get that opportunity. I worry what impact that will have on some families and how they support their child.”

What additional social challenges have you had e.g. mental health support / re-socialising friendship groups?

A big concern for me as a parent was how our children would cope returning back to friendship groups after spending so long away from a social environment during lockdown. I was also concerned for some children who may have had difficult family lives or for whom home wasn’t the safe place we might like to believe. 

“Those with siblings seem to have bounced back fairly quickly but some of the children have been at home alone for some time and appear to have found it harder.”

“We have been really impressed with the children so far in terms of how they are emotionally and how they are coping with the return. They have a lot of questions about COVID. Some are missing being able to play with friends in other year groups. Trying to keep them from touching each other during play time (hugging, rough and tumble etc) is basically impossible.”

“Students are excited to see each other and hug each other. There is however very minimal mental health support and virtually impossible for students to access any support within School without breaking the bubbles”

“Some children have experienced deaths in their family and it is heartbreaking – some are very scared and vulnerable”

“It’s been sad to see some children who were previously confident and outgoing reverting into themselves and clinging to their parents at drop off. I hope this will change in time and with our support and reassurance.”

“Our children have adapted well to their return to school and as yet, in the main, we have had few issues with their mental health.  We are doing plenty of talking and PSHE activities and I’m sure that as time goes on, this picture will change.”

“Some children are very anxious about COVID and getting it. We have had to send a few children home with coughs or fevers and managing the impact that has on the rest of the class can be really hard. They worry about their friends who have been sent home, and we have to spend a lot of time reassuring children and explaining what happens next.”

What changes have you had to make in terms of curriculum / teaching methods?

This was an area where I knew that teaching must have become a bit of a minefield, if nothing else the physical restrictions and changes required to try and get children back to where they should have been pre Covid. It was only when I read the extent of these comments I fully appreciated how much things have changed for school staff across the board. 

“Teachers are having to teach from the front and in smaller rooms where you cant get around its tough to support all the kids that need it. I worry that I am not doing half as good a job as I would normally when our kids need us more than ever :(”

“We have noticed that our Year 3 group is very much still a Year 2. We are backtracking more in reading and writing than maths, presumably as less children have done full writing work than maths during lockdown.”

“As per government guidance, our classes are set up in rows.  Our Y1 children are following more of the EYFS approach at the moment to help them settle back into school.  Guidance also states that we must not reduce the curriculum but this is impossible so we have chosen what we believe are the most important skills and knowledge required in each subject and are teaching those.  We are also attempting to fill gaps missed in core subjects, but again, this is proving extremely difficult.”

“We are also teaching the children how to use google classrooms in the event of another local or national lockdown, which is going well, but its long term success depends on access to the internet on a device that is reliable. Not all families have that luxury”

“My curriculum time has been cut as we reduce how many lessons in a day to minimise the number of transitions for students between rooms and along narrow corridors. I cannot teach anything in a practical way which suits my subject and engages the pupils more. I am struggling to stay at the front of the room as it’s natural to move around the class giving verbal feedback and helping students who need more support as well as making sure they’re actually doing the work!”

“We are going to have to fit more curriculum into less time and it is harder to do interventions as we cannot take small groups or individuals off as easily so those are having to be done within the classroom which can be distracting.”

“In the summer term we taught our classes directly in school, whilst also teaching those still at home remotely via Teams. All lessons were ‘live’ so those at home could participate. We will continue to do this if and when children have to self isolate.”

“It is much more difficult to teach when children sitting at desks (year 1 and 2), especially when we are used to having then sit at the front of the room on the carpet.”

“Paired and grouped work have had to stop, and I really miss this as it was often the most effective methods in younger children.”

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “In terms of restrictions, everything just takes so much longer. Washing hands really impacts on lessons in terms of length. We need to allow more time for hand washing and moving around school” [/perfectpullquote]

What are some of the most challenging COVID restrictions you’ve had to put in place, and how have these affected your role?

Thank you for reading! 

I can honestly say that listening to all the comments back from the teachers, teaching assistants and support staff that I spoke to was such an eye opener for me. I got so emotional reading their responses, learning about their current challenges and knowing that in reality, this ‘new normal’ may be here for quite some time, no doubt facing more hurdles and difficulties along the way.

What rang true for me overall was that these teachers are absolutely 100% doing their best for our children under bloody tough circumstances, and as parents, our schools need our support more than ever. Knowing that they have our support really does mean the world.

I wanted to say a huge thank you to each and every member of school staff that took time out of their already busy days to share their insights. Lucy x