Schools have faced an unprecedented year with pupils unable to sit their exams and forced to learn at home due to the coronavirus pandemic – and 2021 looks like being another roller coaster time.
Teachers have had to change the way they work completely and bring in new rules to protect staff and pupils from the virus as best they could when youngster did finally return to the classroom after the first lockdown – and they rose to the challenge.
It was a year that no-one could predicted and closing schools for months on end was something that was never expected to happen in anyone’s lifetime.
As they begin the new year, head teachers in Staffordshire and Derbyshire have been reflecting on a difficult 2020 and how they over came the issues to get children learning again.
Julie Rudge, head teacher of Thomas Alleyne’s High School, in Uttoxeter, told how it had been a rough year but now there is hope for 2021 with the vaccine.
She said: “Clearly, 2020 has been a really tough year with the pandemic’s far ranging impact on our lives, which meant moving to remote learning during the first national lockdown, supporting pupils with the summer exams, re-opening the school to all pupils in September, adapting to Covid-19 safety measures, timetabling to maintain year group bubbles and getting to grips with online teaching where we have needed to provide that to pupils self isolating.
“Our top priorities have always been to keep everyone as safe as possible and to enable learning to continue in the most appropriate way.
“There are two key things that have struck me about the pandemic crisis. Firstly, school is where pupils need and want to be and it’s vital for their emotional and academic development and future prospects, but also for their mental wellbeing and social support.
“Secondly, despite the hardship of 2020, I have seen our school pull together in the most amazing way, and I want to pay a heartfelt tribute to our staff, governors, pupils, their families, and the wider community for all their support this year.
“For example, staff and pupils have raised more than £36,000 for charities since the start of the pandemic to support the NHS and care homes with PPE, provide food boxes for families, laptops for pupils and to help us provide additional mental health support.
“They’ve also donated funds to a local hospice.
“Looking ahead to the future, now that the vaccine is on its way, there is a feeling of hope for 2021.
“Whilst the impact of the pandemic will be with us for some time to come, there is a growing feeling of optimism that we will have more stability in future in terms of how we learn to live with the virus – where it is far less disruptive to our lives.
“We’ve also learnt so much, so quickly, during this time, which will help us to continue to enhance our teaching, and how we work with and support our school community.”
Video Unavailable
Vivien Sharples, principal of the Pingle Academy, said the Swadlincote school in South Derbyshire, has made sure that every pupil has what they need to work from home, which was an ‘incredible achievement’.
They have also introduced directional markers, banner tape and ‘Be smart, stay apart’, ‘Keep left’, ‘Keep moving’ posters throughout the school to help pupils to know what to do while they are on school premises. She also said a campaign to get all of the youngsters to wear face masks on the premises had been a huge success.
Live Zoom assembles and pupil ‘bubbles’ have now become part of the daily routine and there was also an outside canopy for pupils to socialise safely during breaks.
Mrs Sharples said: “Partially closing the academy in March and saying goodbye to the majority of students for an unknown period was not a pleasant experience.
“We all come to the academy every day for a joint purpose – so that every student in our care can have the best life chances.
“Thankfully, the pandemic did not deter us. The staff have been absolutely incredible throughout these strange times, quickly adapting to online teaching, learning and assessment, engaging and motivating students remotely and ensuring they continued to gain the knowledge and skills they need during their secondary education and beyond.
“Many students continued to attend throughout lockdown and the progress made by children of key workers, vulnerable students and those with special education needs was a high priority for us.
“We are very proud to say that we opened every day during lockdown, even during holidays and when it was optional. Staff selflessly volunteered to come in to teach and support students and if there was a gap in the rota, there was invariably a flurry of support to ensure that we had sufficient staff.
“Support for emotional well being and mental health have been key throughout the pandemic.
“Thankfully, we have a large number of trained mental health first aiders, who have been able to support students and staff and signpost to external sources where necessary.
“The Pingle family ensures that every single member of the community is valued and looked after.
“Our families and the wider community have been incredibly supportive during the pandemic. We have worked in partnership to do our very best for every student in our care.
“The local food bank has been an incredible source of support and we have received countless donations, from masks provided by industrious parents/carers and students to sanitsers from Signature Ribbons and generous donations of laptops from Coors.
“We returned in September to a whole new regime, fully embraced by staff, students and families.
“Our aim was to quickly establish a new ‘normal’, so that expectations and routines would be quickly embedded, allowing good quality teaching and learning to be quickly re-established.
“The students have risen to the challenge and they make me really proud.
“Students have enjoyed ‘click and collect’ and app rewards and socially distanced presentations of Principal’s Awards.
“Students are really missing their social contacts out of the academy and some are living in difficult family circumstances.
“They have risen to the challenge of new ways of learning and the changes to examination arrangements and they have their eye firmly on their futures.
“Careers information, education, advice and guidance are more important than ever in these unusual times and we have prioritised resources to inspire them and to encourage high aspirations.
“We want our students to aim high and be determined to reach out for their goals with confidence and this will be our continued focus in January.
“An important part of students’ education is personal development and we have been impressed and amazed at our students’ determination to support others in these difficult times.
“Support for the appeal for Simeon, a local student who lost his life during the pandemic and for the South Derbyshire CVS Winter Giving Campaign have been absolutely incredible – a true reflection of the collective determination of the Pingle community to help those less fortunate.
“The staff have been upbeat, optimistic and absolutely determined to do their best throughout.
“We have stuck to rigorous cleaning and hygiene procedures, we have delivered our risk assessment to the letter and we are proud that in our community, there has been minimal impact on our students’ education.
“Only three staff and 14 students have tested positive in a community of 1,400 students and over 200 staff and we have only had small numbers of close contacts self isolating as a result.
“Our clinically extremely vulnerable students and staff have been fully supported and we have worked closely with families who feel they are at risk.
“We are using the Government catch up fund to ensure that students who had fallen behind during partial closure have the opportunity to catch up.
“We have an upbeat and positive end of term for students and staff. End of term celebrations for students are being delivered remotely, with a prize for the best form video entry.
“We look forward to the spring term and hopefully a return to something more like normality in the coming months. We will support Year 11 and 13 students through any potential examination changes and we look forward to reinstating the full range of extra curricular opportunities for all students across the academy as soon as we are able.”
Find out how many coronavirus cases there have been near you by typing your postcode here:
Charlotte Hopkins, head teacher at Henhurst Ridge Academy, in Burton, praised the pupils for their response during a difficult year.
She said: “Our pupils have proved themselves to be incredibly resilient, and have coped brilliantly with being in and out of school.
“They’ve adapted really well to our new routines and understand these are to keep them safe, while they particularly enjoy seeing each other in our weekly virtual assemblies so we can still feel connected as a school.
“We’ve also really been helped by our parents being so supportive despite the impact on themselves when Bubbles close – we’ve received loads of encouragement and support from them and they make us all feel so valued. And finally I want to thank my staff who have been absolutely incredible.
“They’ve thrown themselves into their work, without complaint, and I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful team.”
