Reading back through my Schools Week lockdown diary of 2020 feels like opening a time capsule from a world that had been abruptly altered and is now unrecognisably distant.
The practicalities of managing our schools during that period are fascinating to look back on, but it is the lasting impacts of the pandemic that make those early diary entries resonate with deeper significance.
At the time, the phrase ‘new normal’ was being used to describe the pandemic experience. Soon, that phrase would come to symbolise the potential for transformative action to right the system’s foundations. Today, it is a bleak reminder of a lack of visionary leadership.
Life was so different in the spring of 2020. Amid the chaos, I remember clearly there being almost a ‘pause in time’ during which, like many others, I experienced a substantial shift in how I perceived by personal and professional purpose.
Relationships have always been key in the AP and SEND sector, but they are frequently fraught with difficulties. Suddenly, the pandemic experience began to break down those barriers.
Initially born out of necessity, our actions blossomed into something far more meaningful: a genuine connection and a shared understanding of the challenges families were facing.
Daily phone calls home and the delivery of work packs gave staff new insights. Meanwhile, our willingness to act proved our resilience and creativity to our communities.
Socially distanced doorstep interactions stood as a testament to our commitment to them – a powerful reminder of the fundamental importance of connection.
The key lesson, surely, was that a thriving school or trust isn’t defined by its size or its results alone but, crucially, by the strength of its relationships and its commitment to a culture of belonging.
This wasn’t a new revelation, but the pandemic stripped away the noise and amplified this truth.
Briefly, a truly ‘new normal’ seemed within grasp
We were facing weighty moral and practical quandaries, not least balancing the need to keep schools open for vulnerable pupils against our duty of care to our staff.
These were not abstract policy debates; they were real human dilemmas with tangible consequences. It forced a deep introspection about the values that guided our decisions, pushing beyond metrics and targets to the wellbeing and safety of our entire community.
This wasn’t just a period of ‘disruption’; it had the potential to be a catalyst for profound change.
How would we ensure the genuine connections forged during lockdown weren’t lost? How would we create sustainable structures that prioritised wellbeing and managed workload effectively?
And most importantly, how would we address the persistent inequalities that the pandemic laid bare, particularly for our most vulnerable students and those with SEND, within a challenging funding landscape?
Briefly, a truly ‘new normal’ seemed within grasp when Covid recovery tsar Sir Kevan Collins called for £15 billion to build it. But the government committed just £1.5 billion, and here we are.
Five years on, the ongoing impact of Covid is undeniable: pupil wellbeing at an ebb, a widening disadvantage gap, a “seismic shift in parental attitudes to school attendance” and growing deficits in communication and language – the tip of the iceberg that is the SEND crisis.
My lockdown diary serves as a reminder of the transformative potential of crisis. It documents not just the challenges we faced and how our priorities shifted, but our unwavering belief in an education system where everyone belongs.
For me, lockdowns put into sharp focus the importance of living my ‘why’. I committed to the purpose of helping more of our most vulnerable learners find their place of safety and their ‘why’, taking my learning from the AP and SEND sector into leading a mainstream trust.
I’m far from alone in wanting to shape a fully inclusive approach to mainstream where everyone belongs. Because when time stood still, we were forced to confront what truly mattered.
So far, policy makers don’t seem to have understood that experience. Because the ‘new normal’ seems remarkably like a failed attempt to return to the old one.
But perhaps change is still possible.
Five years after the first school ‘closures’, sector leaders revisit their Schools Week Lockdown Diaries. Read them all here
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