The summer term was a dystopian limbo. I was trapped at home, frustrated by the inanity of relentless parenting, with few breaks where I could use my brain, connect with my students, or be myself. Torn between the wry humour of responding to eye-rolling obvious questions on Google Classrooms and sudden, shocking fear of the realities of the global pandemic, I didn’t know how to feel, how to react, how to be. 

I went from missing my students desperately, worrying about their potentially harrowing lives under lockdown, hoping for a speedy return to the classroom, to panicking about the safety of us all in the inevitably close proximity of the school setting, and feeling the pressure of being compelled to support with bubbles in the final weeks of term. The whirlwind of putting in shifts at school as well as still providing full time childcare as a parent, and continuing to set ever more substantial online lessons (with disappointingly poor take-up) found me overwhelmed, and starting to feel helplessly down at the impossible seeming logistics of juggling the obligations to my family, my school, and to myself. 

Needless to say, it was my own self care that was sidelined to maintain the status quo. The summer holidays, and the guiltily sweet respite of my child starting nursery, couldn’t come soon enough. 

What priorities should teachers and school leaders have over the summer holidays? 

I cannot fathom how school leaders have managed all of the above situations, alongside responding to updated government guidance without delay, knowing that every decision carries with it the oppressive weight of responsibility of potentially risking (or saving) lives of each member of your community. For me, the priority over the summer holidays for all teachers and school leaders is to attempt to switch off after the most mentally and emotionally draining school year ever. 

Surely now, more than ever, the importance of self-care, of recharging that struggling battery, of fitting one’s own oxygen mask first, must be given the time and respect it deserves. The temptation, the necessity, to continue to tweak, to adjust, to consider and reconsider the plans for September must be put on hold for at least a couple of weeks. There will be time (and no doubt, further updates to guidance) towards the end of August. Although the sickening lurch of the realities of September looms, for now, at least, be still. 

Have entire days where you do not utilise a screen for work purposes, you do not have a conversation with a colleague, lovely though they may be, and where, please, you do not sit bolt upright in bed in the middle of the night realising that you’ve misinterpreted a key piece of guidance, and spend hours awake fretfully contemplating the impact this has on September. 

What priorities should schools have as the new school year begins? What strategies should be implemented? 

The return of all year groups to school in September signpost a new era – one of relief, recovery and above all, hope. Hope that perhaps finally we are safe enough to move back to ‘normal’, and continue our core business as educators. 

Therefore, for me, the key priority schools must have as the new school year begins is clear: to support our students and communities into re-establishing strong routines, where consistency is the behaviour we must promote and exemplify. ‘Business as usual’ is not quite the right maxim here – however the idea of ‘setting the weather’ is crucial. A positive, firm, beginning rooted in high expectations is what our learners crave after this period of uncertainty. 

With this approach however, we must remember to weave in our empathy skills – conscious awareness of our students and colleagues’ moods and needs will enable us to take the temperature, and respond accordingly. Being investigative of our own behaviors during this time is vital. Catching those unconscious signposts to something being wrong: being too quick to flashes of anger over something inconsequential; finding little enjoyment in our passion; feeling disassociated from the day to day, require us to urgently step in to regain a sense of grounding, and will only be of benefit to those around us. 

Resisting the urge and pressure to instil ‘catch up’ interventions that will be taxing on both students and colleagues, as these are often high input for relatively low impact. Try to ease the pressure, with regular low stakes assessment to discover any gaps, and support and trust their teachers to do what they do best – expert teaching resulting in high quality learning. Use this approach of little and often to collect evidence should we ever need to utilise it to provide our students with CAGs in the future.

And finally, the last few months have honed our focus on the importance of adaptability. Know that whatever comes, we have demonstrated flexibility beyond all imagination – and we can do so again. 

All-in-all, a strange time. But once I got my head around online learning, it was manageable. I’ve had a lot more time to think, less time physically marking work and more time developing the curriculum. More time to innovate for the future. Whilst doing all of the above, my colleagues and I have gone through our curriculum provision with a fine-toothed comb, ensuring that from September, every element of our planning and resources is well-thought out, easy-to-use for staff, and providing a well-rounded experience for our pupils. 

That process has been challenging, of course, but also refreshing. I’ve had a chance to do those things that teachers don’t get to do usually, the jobs I’ve put off for a decade. It’s been a chance to get our house in order, and we’ve made the most of the opportunity. Teaching is a conveyor belt. Barely has one lesson finished when another starts. Barely has one term ended before the next begins. 6 weeks holiday? A blur. Whilst this hasn’t been the all-expenses-paid Netflix binge-a thon that some people think it has been, it has certainly been a change of pace. Different challenges, different routines, a different focus, very clean hands. I’ve spent time with pupils and staff that I wouldn’t usually. I’ve played a lot of socially-distanced tennis and invented new versions of games which followed our strict guidelines. I’ve planned and prepared lessons which inexperienced teachers (parents) have had to deliver at home (with a modicum of success, apparently). I (an experienced teacher) have struggled with teaching my own children at home. 

The experience has been strange, that’s true. I would much rather have been in school all this time; a normal term and a normal life. You couldn’t have made the last few months up if you tried. But there is a lot to learn from the way teachers and school leaders have responded. And a lot more to learn from the way most of our pupils and parents have. Hopefully, in being kept apart, we’ve actually grown stronger together. Hopefully, pressing pause on our normal teaching will have afforded us a chance to make sure that, in future, learning is even better than it was before. I’ve a feeling it will have to be.

Priorities, priorities

Prioritising is the supreme skill of an excellent teacher. We spin plates in a way that would impress Barnum himself, constantly keeping everything going whilst ticking off jobs from a to-do list which grows and never shrinks. There are infinite jobs which need to be done before school magically reopens as normal in September. But the first, and most important priority is a simple one. In fact, it should really be our only priority because without it, nothing else we need can be achieved. The main priority for the summer holidays is to decompress. 

Whilst there have been unexpected benefits to the lockdown and the enforced time at home, the situations revolving around school closure, partial reopening, extended reopening etc have been stressful at times. Whilst class numbers have been much lower and direct teaching has been rendered almost impossible, simply having to constantly observe pupil interactions to avert the risk of close proximity is draining. If I never have to say “remember 2 metres distance” again in my life, I’ll be a happy man. 

Teachers aren’t heroes, despite me having a number of mugs in my cupboard that claim that we are. We aren’t heroes but we are vital, important. It’s no wonder that school reopening was high on the agenda and one of the first elements of lockdown to be relaxed. Teachers take a mess and make a masterpiece. We respond to situations quickly and with ingenuity, rearranging rooms and planning systems for handwashing, organising rotas and routines to ensure the maximum safety for our pupils. Despite negative press (no change there), this has been our finest hour. But that has come at a cost. I personally am the most tired I have ever been (and I’ve done my share of the baby night-shifts). The last few months have been emotionally, mentally and physically draining. Of course we need to think ahead to next September, to work through yet another round of Risk Assessments and plans. But first, we must rest. Without renewed strength and a time to unwind, we will struggle to create the safe, welcoming atmosphere that our pupils need to smooth the transition back towards a semblance of normality. It’s time to actually put our feet up and binge-watch TV shows, do that exercise we’ve been putting off, see loved ones we’ve been avoiding. It’s time for the Summer Holidays.

Recovery 

With the best will in the world, we cannot ‘recover’ the time that has been lost. Even the most accomplished home learning systems are no match for the skill of a teacher with a class full of pupils in front of them. Learning will have stalled; some children will be not only four months ‘behind’ where they could have been, but undoubtedly even worse off academically. 

I’m sure there are children out there who have had an idyllic time away from school: baking, being creative, exploring nature. I’m sure there are pupils that have completed every sentence of home learning set by school as well as hours of extra work. Some of those children might return in September having benefited in some ways. However, for every one of those lucky children there will be a child who has not engaged, not explored, not benefitted. Thousands of pupils will have done no academic work from March to September, missing 15-16 weeks of direct teaching. Thousands of pupils will have spent the majority of that time within the four walls of their bedrooms. 

We face the complete unknown. Most of the children I have come into contact with in recent months have seemed happy enough but most of their peers have not been in school at all. As always, Schools have two priorities: education and wellbeing. Both of these are vital, as both have been affected negatively. These priorities need to be balanced in the coming term. We have a responsibility to ensure that children make up lost learning and return to their pre-lockdown position as quickly as possible to minimise the negative impact upon learning. However, this cannot be achieved in a hothouse environment of cramming and a narrowed curriculum. These methods would undoubtedly achieve superficial acceleration of results. But to rely on these methods would be to ignore the impact of lockdown on the wellbeing of both pupils and staff. A return to school in September needs to be managed carefully. Obviously, learning needs to happen and quick gains need to be made. But a return to school could be traumatic for pupils who have been away from a school environment for an extended period. There needs to be a careful plan in place to smooth the return to school and ensure that the psychological impact is taken into account. Balancing these two priorities is what the best school leaders are experts at, but there is a temptation to take shortcuts. The return to education will be a long-term process.

As the new school year approaches, teachers are thinking through their recovery curriculum for KS1, packed with revision of key concepts and targeted catch-up for those who’ve fallen most behind. The government’s recent announcement of a £1bn fund, with £350m for private tutoring, will be a welcome boost; there’s lots of strong evidence of the impact 1:1 and small group tuition can make on improving the progress of struggling children.

However, it’s highly likely that these extra resources will not be enough to go round, so teachers will be left with difficult choices to make about which children, in which year groups, get extra help. Schools will need to ask themselves: are there other creative, low-cost ways to involve a wider circle of adults in the very specific task of reading practice?

Pre-lockdown, many schools ran parent reader programmes, used tutors recruited and trained by charities, or had partnerships with companies that sent in volunteers each week. Not only is organising these programmes time-intensive, it’s highly probable that school visitor restrictions won’t allow all that to continue this autumn — so schools should think about how to take volunteer reading online! Virtual reading support is a fantastic way to enjoy stories, boost oracy skills and provide children with encouragement, praise, conversation and human interaction. 

If you are a school leader or teacher, there will be many factors for you to consider: do you want to manage a programme yourself (more work!), or partner with a charity or local business? Who will organise and set up the technology? How will you coordinate DBS checks? Which platform should you use? What safeguarding issues are there to consider? Will a voice-only option be better (because of safeguarding and internet quality) than using video?  How about timetabling sessions and co-ordinating with volunteers? 

These testing times call for innovative thinking and radical solutions. As the over-subscription to the NHS volunteering scheme showed, many people are keen to help those set back by the Covid crisis. If a volunteer reading model works well, the children involved can be supported to master that most fundamental of all skills – the ability to read. This is of course essential to their wider learning, but it is more than that. According to evidence amassed since 2005 by the National Literacy Trust’s annual reading surveys, if young people actually enjoy reading, as well as doing better in the classroom, they are happier with their lives. 

So, how can a school get started down this path? A few pointers:

• Search online for any reading schemes that operate near you and find out what their virtual offer is. There isn’t unfortunately one master site that lists all charities that run such schemes, but this list on the Publisher’s Association site is a starting point.
• Organising a reading scheme in partnership with another organisation, like a charity, will be less work for you but might sometimes involve a cost.
• If you do enter into a partnership, ask detailed questions early on about safeguarding, logistics and technology to ensure their programme will work for your school.
• If you can’t find a suitable reading scheme that serves your area, you could:
  • talk to your PTA or community contacts about mobilising parents who might be working from home to do online reading with children at school.
  • Consider any existing relationships you have with local businesses and whether they might help you set up a scheme/sponsor equipment etc.
  • Once you have volunteers, dedicate some staff time to thinking about the platform you want to use for this (audio, video etc etc), the equipment you’ll need and the reading materials the parent readers could use.
• Whatever model you decide upon, consider how you’ll introduce this extra support to your parent community and secure parental consent for children to participate.

Case study:

Dylan was floundering at the end of last school year. Aged six, he was at an inner London primary where over 60% of children receive free school meals (the national average is 20%). He was struggling to meet age-related expectations and showing signs of dyslexia; the condition ran in his family, in which the socio-economic circumstances were also challenging. His confidence as a reader was at rock bottom. 

Dylan’s teachers feared for his prospects. Then they put him forward for a remote reading programme, which used a dedicated laptop installed in his classroom. A volunteer tutor encouraged his reading in weekly, 30 minute online sessions, just using voice with no video. Week by week, his confidence grew. In a thrilling turnaround, by the end of the academic year Dylan (not his real name) was reaching expectations for his peer group. His teachers were delighted—as was Dylan himself.

We’re in a very different place now: we’ve adapted and adopted. We had a superb online platform, Purple Mash, and relied on this for a time. Like many online platforms or virtual learning environments (VLEs), content can be tailored to groups and individuals, progress checked and feedback given. Which is all fine if your families all have access to wifi and laptops / tablets… We soon learnt that many didn’t. Priority was being given to older children, and some were trying to access the content on smartphones where there was no wifi. Some families didn’t have smartphones. Engagement with home learning was at around 30-40%.

By June 1st when schools were asked to open more widely we had a new plan. The best plans are often the simplest and it was the deputy headteacher, Kayleigh Byrne, who came up with it: 

“We’ll get all of the class teachers together (via Zoom) and plan a whole school theme so that most activities can be done together by the family, with older children helping younger children. Use the activities with the children in school and print packs to send home to those who are not accessing the online content.”

It has worked. Kayleigh meets the staff each week and they agree on a whole school theme. Each theme has a discussion-based question, building on the Philosophy for Children approach we use in school, hoping to get families talking at home. Following this, staff brainstorm together learning for the children linked to different areas of the curriculum around the theme, thinking about activities for all ages and how families can work together. The team approach means that teachers who specialise in different subjects are able to prepare learning tasks for the whole school and everybody is keen to share their ideas, expertise and make the learning engaging for the children. 

Kayleigh puts all the ideas generated on to an easy to follow format and sends out to each teacher from Nursery to Year 6, the teachers then personalise the home learning with any additional tasks and appropriate English and Maths learning for their year group. Alongside this runs our school YouTube channel. We started the channel much earlier but this is now growing and contributes to the package, with teachers recording themselves modelling tasks linked to the home learning each week. We also have EYFS, Forest School and Wellbeing blogs on our website that are updated regularly. https://roundthorneys.wordpress.com

Content is uploaded to the school website each week and teams of staff come in on a rota to print and package the activity packs. The hyperlinks in the overview document ensure that staff in school can download and print the sheets and those able to access online at home can work on them too. It’s well organised so that teams have unique access to the photocopier once a week and then go and post them out. The assistant head leads this and ensures that staff have all they need in terms of resources and technical support. She has set up workstations in the hall for each staff member to ensure social distancing and reduce the need to share resources.

Staff love delivering the packs. It brings a real connection with the children and the community and they have even been given food and snacks from parents who have fully appreciated their efforts! The same activities and resources are used by teachers leading class bubbles as well as those supporting the children of key workers, bringing together a truly ‘whole school’ learning offer.

It’s not perfect, but it’s working. We’ve had nothing but positive feedback. I have reflected on whether we could and should have done this from the start of lockdown and conclude that we couldn’t. We had to minimise the number of people in the building and staff were shielding, some were ill. The priority was and still is people’s health and wellbeing. Working this way since June and knowing that it’s helping has had a huge positive impact on the wellbeing and happiness of so many staff. A real team effort!

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha (deep intake of breath), hahahahahahaha. 

To say it has been an interesting one is an understatement. I was asked to take on the role of acting-headteacher not long after lockdown began. It has been tricky at times, but everyone has been brilliant. The staff have come together, parents have been supportive, and the school community has come together. 

We have delivered food parcels to those most in need, and taken our school community online with stories and assemblies via social media. Staff have surprised themselves with their newfound skills as online content creators, bedtime story readers and live session hosts. 

Personally, I have learned to cope with my lockdown hair on my videos for parents. I have also learned to listen to my body, and to rest when I need to. Have I enjoyed it? I have! Was this the way I would have wanted to step into the role? No, but when these things happen you need to grasp the nettle and do the very best you can. For now, though, I just need sleep. Lovely, lovely sleep. 

What priorities should teachers and school leaders have over the summer holidays?

School leaders need to be a little bit selfish now. Many of them have not stopped since February half term. They have given all they have and often more, reading pages and pages of guidance, while risk-assessing every detail that we normally take for granted. We now need to set an example for staff by stepping away from the laptop, switching on out-of-office and switching off any alarms. There will be time for hard work ready for September, and there will be time for making classrooms ‘COVID-secure’, but now is the time for rest. 

The message to staff needs to be clear: Rest, recuperate and come back stronger in September, as it will continue to be tough. The old adage has never been more true: “Put on your mask before helping others”. You cannot help others if you have passed out. You cannot lead your school through the next and potentially more tricky phase if you are fatigued and jaded. Now is the time for me to connect with my family and friends, people who I have seen very little of in the past months. Between lockdown, work and my own anxieties, contact with some has been limited. Now is the time for me to step out and make the change. I may even make it as far as a beer garden (maybe). 

What priorities should schools have as the new school year begins? What strategies should be implemented?

Pinched from an awesome longstanding head (@joga5), we are focusing on three strands: Recalibration, Reconnecting and Rerooting. We need to recalibrate how our school day and classroom look. We will all face forward and stagger our starts to keep everyone safe. This is a given, really. 

Secondly, we need to reconnect both as a school community and with our work. It has been a long time for some children to be out of schooling. We have had online working and online assemblies, but we all miss that feedback that you can only get face-to-face. 

Finally, and most importantly for me, we need to reroot ourselves in our values, ethos and school culture. We need to live our values of Love, Happiness, Respect, Friendship, Honesty, Responsibility and Cooperation. It must form the roots of everything we do and run through our school like the letters in a stick of rock. 

Coming together as a school community will help us to support each other through the good times and the bad. There will be both. As we tiptoe towards some form of normality relationships will be key. No one is getting through this on their own! No matter who you are, you are going to need everyone to pull in the same direction with a determination to make it better for everyone.

At the beginning of 2020, with COVID-19 starting it’s spread across the world, edtech startup Teach Stream worked with schools across West Sussex to identify the potential pain-points in delivering live interactive lessons safely and securely to potentially hundreds of students at a time. Since then, the platform has been embraced by schools and teachers, with thousands of users on the platform each day.

With hopefully the worst of the Coronavirus pandemic behind us, education still faces enormous challenges going into the 2020/21 academic year, where blending learning will undoubtedly become commonplace. Schools can expect a future of continued uncertainty, with students and teachers being absent for weeks due to council lockdowns and self-isolation. Schools using Teach Stream have been preparing their plans for their return in September, using the system alongside existing classroom technology to deliver a blended approach, where 50% of the class is present, and the rest are remotely working.

The Teach Stream platform is specifically designed for secondary schools and comes with a wealth of features to make it easy to implement across your school.

Simplicity

Teach Stream is built with simplicity in mind, a solution which ticks all the boxes with minimal training requirements. As part of this principle, no downloads or configuration is required to start using Teach Stream. Simply schedule your lesson from your web browser, invite your students and start teaching.

“We have been using Teach Stream at The Weald with all year groups with great success. It allows us to deliver lessons and interact remotely with students in a highly effective manner. The controls are simple but adapted perfectly for school use. Teachers have a choice of projecting presentations, using an integrated whiteboard, interacting via a chat function or bringing students into lessons on audio. Control of access to students by staff is easy and quick. It just works, which is critical. Students and staff love the simplicity.”

Peter Woodman, headteacher at The Weald School

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is more of a concern than ever, and Teach Stream puts students’ privacy and safety first. One of the core differences between Teach Stream and alternative meeting-like platforms is students don’t have the option to send their webcam, greatly enhancing the privacy of students. To ensure that learning is tailored and interaction is still personal, student audio can be requested by the teacher for enhanced interaction.

Teach Stream gives the power back to the teacher, allowing the clearing of the chat discussion, along with muting and removal of selected students should the need arise. In addition, students don’t need to sign up to the platform, instead, when students join a lesson, they must verify their school email address via a confirmation code, helping ensure traceability and preventing unauthorised access to your lessons. With the ability to record lessons and have other teachers join as moderators, you can be sure Teach Stream can meet your safeguarding requirements.

Collaboration

Teach Stream comes with all the features of a typical meeting platform, including the ability to screen share, share webcam and communicate via chat messages. Teach Stream provides an interactive whiteboard and teacher-controlled audio discussion, making it easy for students to collaborate.

Lesson Follow-up

Lesson follow-up is essential, and Teach Stream provides functionality to make it as easy as possible. Recording is available during a Teach Stream lesson which can be downloaded after the lesson has finished along with a downloadable attendance and discussion log. These resources make it easy to track the attendance of a live lesson and follow up with questions or concerns raised.

“At The Forest School, we have been thrilled to reconnect with hundreds of our students across a range of subjects in just a few weeks, adapting our planning to deliver fun, interactive and exciting lessons through the Teach Stream platform. Feedback across the board has been phenomenal: from relieved parents, re-energised students and delighted teachers, all of whom have witnessed the impact on our students’ enjoyment, learning and progress in such a short space of time.

“We have enjoyed working with the Teach Stream team who have been extremely receptive to our needs; developing, adapting and tailoring the technology to support teachers’ delivery and enhance the learning experience for our students. We would highly recommend Teach Stream as part of a blended approach.

“Our staff have been extremely flexible and creative when using the Teach Stream platform to deliver lessons ‘live’ to our students. As a result, we have managed to re-engage some of our more reluctant learners and enthuse and secure better progress for all.”

Mrs L Kirkland, assistant headteacher at The Forest School

Looking into the future

As we look into the 2020/21 year, we expect to see a hybrid model of physical and remote learning throughout the country and Teach Stream has all the features required to help schools deliver their blended learning curriculum in the UK.

To discover more about how we can help schools deliver safe, interactive lessons, sign up for a free, no-commitment trial today at www.teachstream.co.uk, or watch the Teach Stream Introduction video:

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Thankfully, I have great colleagues who made the transition back to work as easy as they could for me, but also, I have fantastic pupils who have, on the whole, risen to the challenge of digital learning and welcomed me back and into their virtual world.

Many people, teachers included, assume that all kids these days are digitally-literate, as they are never seen without a device of one sort or another in their hands. The opposite is true, though – they lack a huge amount of digital knowledge as they have everything at the touch of an app. This made remote learning a huge learning curve for us all.  

I could not have taught as I did, and the kids couldn’t have learned as much if it had not been for the Microsoft packages we use. I have been using Microsoft Teams since it was rolled out in our council area in 2017, so felt comfortable with the basic usage setting assignments, making new teams and filing all lessons appropriately. However, I had never conducted meetings, recorded lessons, allocated all work through Class Notebook or supported students totally through Teams. At the beginning I would write a message saying “go to the folder in Files that says Abolitionists, find the lesson 2. Wilberforce and work through it”. I would have loads of people asking how you find a file, how you download a file to your device or even where the files section was.  

This led to discussions with colleagues, and we saw this as an opportunity to boost the digital literacy of, not only the teachers, but also the pupils and give them real world IT skills. PDF guides were made and video guides done to help pupils navigate the new “normal”. This also included meetings with entire year groups, where I shared my screen to show pupils step by step the actions they had to take to do certain core tasks that all teachers would require of them. I also did video calls with colleagues to talk them through how to make interactive PowerPoint slides to help increase pupil engagement.

The interactive virtual classrooms have been great. The kids enjoy the fact that there is some autonomy over when they complete the work, we must always remember that not all pupils have access to a dedicated laptop or tablet and are sharing with parents or siblings. To this end my school has handed out somewhere in the region of 200 devices to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds (and dongles for internet access) or from homes where they are having to share devices. 

I would not like to give the impression that it has all been plain-sailing. Engagement has been patchy in some year groups, and it can be difficult to support as you would in a class. However, use of Notebook has meant that we can have class debates and collaborative work as we would in the class. I have set statements in the collaboration space of Notebook and the pupils have to say what they think – this leads them to discussing the merits of the statements (sometimes controversial) and why they agree or disagree. As Notebook updates in real time I can also comment and this encourages deeper learning as I would do with them in class.

Also in Notebook, I used Bitmoji to create stickers with comments such as “Great work” or “Needs some thought” and then attached an audio file with spoken feedback so they are receiving that and can keep it for revision purposes later on. Notebook also helps the most disorganised of pupils keep all their notes in order and it also makes it easy for differentiation as pupils do not see who is receiving what work so it removes the stigma for pupils who find differentiation embarrassing.

Top tips:

• Do as many courses on https://education.microsoft.com/en-us as possible, this skills you up quickly
• Remember your pupils are not as digitally literate as you think – make instructions clear!
• Don’t be scared to try something new
• Set ground rules immediately, but don’t be afraid to change them if they are not working for you and your pupils
• Ask colleagues for help if needed, we still need that support even when working remotely
• Don’t try to reinvent the wheel but also don’t assume that you can use all your current materials

Around Christmas time a colleague from another school and I thought that it would be great to have a Team that all the History teachers in Scotland could join if they wanted to – the vision was that it would be a good way to share CPD opportunities, collaborate and help each other by sharing lessons, ideas and resources. This Team got up and running in early January and now has 680 members across Scotland. It has been a fabulous resource to have access to during lockdown and helped many of us feel less isolated as there was always someone available to bounce ideas off.

Each week we uploaded all of the children’s fabulous learning to the school website. Alongside providing feedback via email we wanted the children’s learning to be acknowledged by sharing it on our class pages. We also included photographs of the children out and about, taking part in exercise, bike rides and long walks in the countryside in the midst of lockdown. This was important because keeping exercise an integral part of lockdown meant that parents and children stayed as upbeat as they possibly could. 

I have also been working with my head to ensure that staffing worked for our bubble groups and that all classrooms and school systems were safe for when children returned to school. We’ve had a critical workers/vulnerable group open throughout lockdown and this has gradually built up over the last couple of weeks to receive reception, Year 1, Year 6 and Year 4 back in school. Because we are a small school with mixed classes it was important for our Year 4s to return, ready for their transition with their new teacher in Year 5 and 6. It has actually worked really well as each child has had the opportunity to have a talk session with their new teacher and they have felt at ease moving into the Summer holidays, having done this. The children have requested that we do this each year from now on, something we will definitely do as it has had such a positive impact. 

I was able to teach my Year 4s for a couple of weeks, which was lovely as my teaching time with them was cut very short. My Year 3s will be returning to my class as Year 4s in September and I will welcome the Year 2s as new Year 3s. 

We have implemented staggered start and finish times and have put in place a one way entrance and exit system, which helps our parents and children remain safe at the beginning and end of the day. We have also split our playground and playing field into four sections to make sure that the current bubbles don’t mix during break and lunch times.

What priorities should teachers and school leaders have over the Summer holiday?

Other than ensuring that children with safeguarding concerns are safe and services are aware of any ongoing situations, all leaders and teachers need to have a WELL-EARNED REST. This is so important, as they need to be on top form for September because we really don’t know what changes are yet to unfold. People in leadership have worked so hard to ensure that all the new rules and regulations are in place and that staffing worked for specific bubbles. I know it has been a complete headache for some schools. We need to look after the mental health of our leaders and teachers, as we need to be ready to respond to the needs of the children in September. 

What priorities should schools have as the new year begins? What strategies will be implemented? 

We will be meeting the children where they are. We have a very strong pastoral team in place, one for KS1 and another for KS2. So we have support as and when needed, a fluid approach to fit the needs of the children and in some cases, the adults. 

Our focus will of course be checking progress and analysing what the children know and do not know, this is important, but for me the most important task in hand is ensuring that all children return to school and are relaxed/happy in their classrooms. As well as supporting the children we will be ensuring the parents are happy too as plenty of them will be anxious and worried in the early days of September. Children are resilient but I have to say this lockdown has been a rollercoaster of events for everyone involved and so even as an adult it has been hard at times. It’s important to remember that children would have witnessed how their parents have been feeling, as children seem to notice everything. They would have taken on these worries and internalised them in some cases. 

For September we have staggered break times and are treating KS1 and KS2 as separate bubbles. All children will be eating their lunch in their classrooms to avoid mixing too. All sports clubs have been cancelled for the time being, as well as individual music lessons. 

On a positive note it does mean that school life will be calmer for a term or two, before we start reintroducing extra clubs, music lessons and morning tuition. It does mean we can focus all our attention on the children and how they are coping with the transition back into the classroom and school life.

Tip #1 – Observe, Observe, Observe

I cannot stress this enough. Your NQT year puts you on a 0.9 timetable and you will be blessed with more ‘Planning, Preparation and Assessment’ time than you might see again for the foreseeable future. One of the best ways to develop your pedagogy and find new techniques is to observe lessons and see what works. I often recommend observing teachers outside your subject because it allows you to forget the content and maintain focus on what that teacher is doing to facilitate the learning process and make progress with students. Go watch your fellow NQTs and feed off each other’s fresh ideas. Make the most of this reduced time now, while you have it, and see a variety of delivery styles and applications of knowledge. You might even see the mistakes experienced teachers make, which will show you that you don’t need to be perfect!

Tip #2 – Set routines in your classroom early on

Many NQTs worry about their behaviour management, and this is understandable. There is a well-peddled myth in schools that you shouldn’t smile until Christmas to show the kids who’s boss. We’ve all heard this being said, but I don’t ascribe to this philosophy and I prefer to beam from day one. But smile or not, the key thing is to establish ground rules from day one and not falter from them. Display the discipline policy in a prominent place and don’t be afraid to refer to it. I’ve found that having my more challenging groups draw up the rules (or a ‘class contract’) with me and allowing them a say makes them feel included, valued. This approach gives me a yardstick to remind them, when they act up, of the mutual rules agreed together. Contracts are two-way, and I’ve also found success in asking what ‘my rules’ are (i.e. fairness, giving warnings before consequences) which I found created a mutual bond from the get-go.

Tip #3 – Don’t reinvent the wheel

It might not seem it at first, but the jump from the PGCEs 12-16 hours a week to 20 hours a week, plus the added responsibilities of school life, can catch a lot of people off-guard. If you try to plan and prepare all your own resources from scratch, you might have a meltdown before December! Sure, you will make lessons with ‘bells and whistles’ on, but you will also occasionally need to go fall back on the textbook or lift from your department. Your colleagues will be happy to share their resources so ‘magpie’ as much as you can. Your work-life balance is going to be critical in this first year, so you need to find ways to minimise how long you are spending planning. 

Tip #4 – Get to grips with your tutor group as soon as possible

Your school will likely give you a sweet and un-presuming group of Year 7 students in your NQT year with the hope that you will guide them through to Year 11. It’s advisable to learn the names of your tutees very early on and find out who in your tutor group have particular needs and vulnerabilities. It’s all too easy to prioritise lesson preparation over your tutor group, we’ve all been there at times, but you will do well to maintain focus on your new pastoral role. Establish routines for tutees early on and be prepared to help some (or many) with organisation skills. Contact with tutee parents early on is essential for developing a support base at home. Phoning parents with good news and praise is going to have a huge impact on their behaviour in school. I also recommend knowing the key colleagues from the first day (SENCO, Safeguarding, Year Lead) for prompt communication and follow up.

Tip #5 – Find the good in what you do

Mental health is incredibly important and NQT’s are often their own worst enemies. It is so easy to finish a lesson, slap your head and criticise yourself for what you should have done differently. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was every Friday afternoon to write down three things on the board that went well that week. It can be a student you advised, a meaningful task, or maybe even a meeting that went well. When you return to your classroom on Monday, re-read your points and remind yourself that you are doing great work. It can sometimes feel that you have ‘imposter syndrome’, but you are actually doing better than you realise. If you don’t remind yourself, you are doing yourself a disservice.

Each week we uploaded all of the children’s fabulous learning to the school website. Alongside providing feedback via email we wanted the children’s learning to be acknowledged by sharing it on our class pages. We also included photographs of the children out and about, taking part in exercise, bike rides and long walks in the countryside in the midst of lockdown. This was important because keeping exercise an integral part of lockdown meant that parents and children stayed as upbeat as they possibly could. 

I have also been working with my head to ensure that staffing worked for our bubble groups and that all classrooms and school systems were safe for when children returned to school. We’ve had a critical workers/vulnerable group open throughout lockdown and this has gradually built up over the last couple of weeks to receive reception, Year 1, Year 6 and Year 4 back in school. Because we are a small school with mixed classes it was important for our Year 4s to return, ready for their transition with their new teacher in Year 5 and 6. It has actually worked really well as each child has had the opportunity to have a talk session with their new teacher and they have felt at ease moving into the Summer holidays, having done this. The children have requested that we do this each year from now on, something we will definitely do as it has had such a positive impact. 

I was able to teach my Year 4s for a couple of weeks, which was lovely as my teaching time with them was cut very short. My Year 3s will be returning to my class as Year 4s in September and I will welcome the Year 2s as new Year 3s. 

We have implemented staggered start and finish times and have put in place a one way entrance and exit system, which helps our parents and children remain safe at the beginning and end of the day. We have also split our playground and playing field into four sections to make sure that the current bubbles don’t mix during break and lunch times.

What priorities should teachers and school leaders have over the Summer holiday?

Other than ensuring that children with safeguarding concerns are safe and services are aware of any ongoing situations, all leaders and teachers need to have a WELL-EARNED REST. This is so important, as they need to be on top form for September because we really don’t know what changes are yet to unfold. People in leadership have worked so hard to ensure that all the new rules and regulations are in place and that staffing worked for specific bubbles. I know it has been a complete headache for some schools. We need to look after the mental health of our leaders and teachers, as we need to be ready to respond to the needs of the children in September. 

What priorities should schools have as the new year begins? What strategies will be implemented? 

We will be meeting the children where they are. We have a very strong pastoral team in place, one for KS1 and another for KS2. So we have support as and when needed, a fluid approach to fit the needs of the children and in some cases, the adults. 

Our focus will of course be checking progress and analysing what the children know and do not know, this is important, but for me the most important task in hand is ensuring that all children return to school and are relaxed/happy in their classrooms. As well as supporting the children we will be ensuring the parents are happy too as plenty of them will be anxious and worried in the early days of September. Children are resilient but I have to say this lockdown has been a rollercoaster of events for everyone involved and so even as an adult it has been hard at times. It’s important to remember that children would have witnessed how their parents have been feeling, as children seem to notice everything. They would have taken on these worries and internalised them in some cases. 

For September we have staggered break times and are treating KS1 and KS2 as separate bubbles. All children will be eating their lunch in their classrooms to avoid mixing too. All sports clubs have been cancelled for the time being, as well as individual music lessons. 

On a positive note it does mean that school life will be calmer for a term or two, before we start reintroducing extra clubs, music lessons and morning tuition. It does mean we can focus all our attention on the children and how they are coping with the transition back into the classroom and school life.