Local Life - St Helens - Nov/Dec 2021

28
Schools
and the
Pandemic
The pandemic has been incredibly challenging for the
education sector. There was no blueprint for schools to
follow, no guide telling head teachers how to provide
remote learning. Some schools were at a digital
disadvantage, unable to deliver lessons to pupils remotely,
either because the school did not have the resources, or
because pupils did not have the right devices or reliable
internet access.
Those schools that were able to deliver remote learning
successfully still faced challenges. Laura Castree, a
secondary school teacher, told us, “A huge part of teaching
is deciphering what your pupil needs and planning
accordingly; this became incredibly difficult when
teaching remotely, and we had to overhaul resources,
teaching styles and priorities practically overnight.”
Many children fell behind with their schoolwork during
the lockdowns. When pupils returned to school, teachers
were then faced with classrooms of children all at different
stages of their learning. Disadvantaged children fell even
further behind their peers.
Even more worrying was the effect of the pandemic on
children’s mental health. When surveyed, most schools
said that some of their pupils were suffering from Covidrelated
anxiety. OFSTED found that some children had
lost physical fitness, others showed signs of mental
distress, and there was an increase in eating disorders
and self-harm.
It hasn’t just been pupils who have struggled with
mental health. The pandemic came on the back of years
of per-pupil spending cuts, increased class sizes and
numerous curriculum changes, so thousands of teachers
were already suffering from work-related stress. A 2019
survey by the teachers’ union NASUWT found that 70% of
teachers felt their job had adversely affected their mental
health. By September 2020, more than half of teachers
said that their mental health had declined further. By April