School leaders have revealed how the lockdown has changed teaching, looked ahead to schooling in September – and paid heartfelt thanks to parents and children.
Schools across Cumbria had to adapt quickly to embrace online learning after the March shutdown but have gradually been welcoming more children back to the classroom as restrictions have eased.
Now as the school year ends the focus is on ensuring they can welcome back all pupils and students in September.
Lorrayne Hughes, Chief Executive of Cumbria Education Trust (CET), is responsible for nine schools and almost 4,000 children across the county.
She said: “Through this time of adversity there is much to be proud of in terms of what’s been achieved.
“It’s an absolute credit to our staff and the teaching profession that so many children have been able to continue their learning during such a long period with the vast majority of children off site.
“Now there needs to be a period of reflection for us all. What have we learned and how can we make it work better? This virus is going to be with us for a long time and we have to get our heads round what we are going to do to make sure that children’s education does not suffer.”
Mrs Hughes also praised parents, carers and children themselves for adapting so flexibly but added: “Lots of children have engaged with us very well, but unfortunately there are a few who haven’t and this needs to be addressed moving forward.
“We need to do everything we can to convince those who are uncertain that schools are as safe as they can be and in September it is absolutely the right place for our young people to be.”
Staff at the trust have fast-tracked online learning and it’s been embraced to such an extent that it’s likely to remain a regular feature of school life.
At the trust’s William Howard School in Brampton around 100 lessons a week are now being videoed for children to access remotely. That’s providing a vast store of reusable resource for future years.
William Howard Headteacher Chris McAree said: “In terms of upskilling staff to deliver online lessons we have shoehorned three to four years of work into three or four months.
“A lot more of that material will now be available to support independent learning, as well as in school.
“We have had classes where those who could be were in the classroom and those who couldn’t watched on Microsoft Teams at the same time. That’s fantastic for the future. If for any reason a child cannot physically be in school, instead of sending work home, they can join a live lesson.
“We now have banks and banks of lessons that we can point towards to help support students. We have taken a massive step forward.”
All CET secondary schools moved quickly to reassure Year 11 students whose GCSE exams were cancelled that those who wanted a place at sixth form would be able to take it up. GCSE grades, which are due next month, have been based on teacher assessment which will then be moderated by exam boards to ensure consistency across the country and with past years.
Mr McAree said: “Some will want to sit exams in November to prove the grade that has come out of moderation does not reflect their ability.”
Nigel Youngman, Headteacher at The Whitehaven Academy, said: “Each results day there are happy students and disappointed students. The ones this year will feel more robbed because they’ll feel it wasn’t their result.”
During the enforced period apart Mr Youngman said it was important the school/student bond was maintained.
He said: “Two things I have been really pleased with are the challenges and celebrations we’ve had. Alongside the conventional curriculum, we wanted weekly challenges so these have been in technology, arts, science, sport, English and more.
“The students are able to explore something a little bit different. That keeps the learning experience more rounded, so we’ve had baking competitions, staff v students, dance challenges, community artwork, all of which we have looked to celebrate on social media.
“Learning can feel really lonely when you’re working remotely so it’s been really important to us to get together as a virtual community with assemblies and activities like a virtual sports day.”
While online learning has been widely used, Mr Youngman said there was no substitute for having students in school and said teachers had been delighted to welcome back Year 10s and Year 12s in June.
He said: “It was lovely to have them back, even in small numbers. The feedback from students is that it has helped them with their remote learning. They have found that easier once they have come in. They felt motivated and more connected.
“For September we know there will be a ‘recovery curriculum’. The reality is that for everything that’s been done students have missed learning. All the subject areas are focussed on preparing material for what they’ve missed. It will be about re-building students and supporting them as learners in the classroom again.”
Des Bird, Headteacher at Workington Academy, said looking back that having students abroad on a French trip as coronavirus spread throughout Europe gave them a heads up on what was coming.
He said: “We were planning because we could see what was happening in other countries. We tried to make sure all children had internet access at home and started upskilling teachers so they would be able to deliver work online.
“We’ve learned a lot and it’s definitely improved the quality of what we’ll be able to deliver remotely.
Mr Bird, who starred in the academy’s spoof Amarillo video which became a viral hit, said it had been important to stay visible for students and the wider community.
He added: “We thought a lot about keeping engaged with the community and also thought it was really important we rewarded publicly the students who were doing so well.”
All the schools have used video to show how they are currently operating to reassure anyone nervous about a return to school. There is a continued emphasis on hand sanitisation and enhanced cleaning at each site.
While restrictions have only allowed limited numbers to return so far, individual review sessions are planned to take place either face-to-face or remotely before the end of term.
Mr Bird said: “We will assess where they are at and what they’ve done and set them some targets for what they need to do next and what they need to catch up on in September.
“For some it will be quite a big step to come back after six months away. Where there is any anxiety we will try to ease students back in.”
All the trust’s schools, including its six primaries Hensingham in Whitehaven, Tebay and Yanwath in Eden, Yewdale and Caldew Lees in Carlisle and Longtown Primary, had the support of the central CET team who took a lead on issues such as health and safety and IT.
Chris Wilkins, the trust’s Director of Primary Education, said this included time-consuming issues such as sourcing PPE, allowing school teams to focus on their children.
He said: “The situation in all our schools is as safe as we can possibly make it. We are using every form of protection, hiring additional cleaners as well as maintain social distancing and making sure that washing hands is part of the everyday routine.
“What you see in school is happy children who are enjoying themselves, albeit it’s a bit different. But children are very good at adapting. They are good at following instruction and going with it.
“It may not be perfect, but we are mitigating the damage that Covid has caused to children’s education.”
Mr Wilkins agreed that September would be a period of catching up to ensure that any lost or forgotten learning can be gained quickly.
He said: “It is going to take some time to regain that but what I’m absolutely sure of is that our staff and communities will respond positively to this.
“The staff have been absolutely fantastic across our schools. I think teachers and teaching assistants can sometimes be a little bit undervalued by society and I hope many more people now appreciate that all sections of school staff have gone beyond to make sure they did their bit to keep the country running.”
