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