By Toby Eastaugh

Principal, Vale of York Academy

I write this piece with two hats on; one as a secondary headteacher in York, the other a father of two teenage daughters.

In different, but very connected ways, my experience of the pandemic, and in particular the lockdown period, has provided an insight into the world of home learning and leading a school under entirely new measures.

Let’s start with the instruction to ‘Stay at Home’ in March. We were not alone in having to move very quickly to upload huge amounts of work onto our learning platform. My staff worked so hard during those opening weeks to get things done. We learnt how to ‘Zoom’; ‘you’re on mute’ became second nature; I discovered video messaging….

My overriding feeling during this opening period was one of worry. It is not normal to lead a school which is near empty. Are the students alright? Can they access the work? Are their parents OK. What about their jobs? Are they all well?

In my own home I witnessed the routine of isolation young people experienced at first hand. I am lucky to have two self-starting, conscientious children who work hard, but I saw the impact upon their wellbeing and even they started to wane before the summer break.

Opening school in September was absolutely the right thing to do, for all sorts of reasons and despite concerns about the potential for increased transmission of infection. I remain awestruck by the way students have accepted the new measures at school so comfortably; they will never say to their headteacher, but you can tell they are glad to be back.

Large parts of the day-to-day activity of our school remain very familiar, but there are subtle changes.

The timetable is structured in the same way but roomings have changed.

The students are split into three ‘bubbles’, geographically separate and remaining in them for much of the school day; our Year 7 students have yet to be taught in many parts of the school building; we have three sittings for lunch.

But some of our school system still dates back to the Victorian era; we still have a long summer holiday originally introduced so that children could help reap the harvest. Photographs of classrooms a hundred years ago would look very similar to those you will see now; children sitting in rows facing the teacher at the front who, against their better instincts, has to remain socially distant.

Seating plans have always been used for lesson planning, grouping students, providing a tailored approach. Now we also use them to contact trace.

There is no doubt, in my view, that reopening schools has been a success.

Since September we have seen four confirmed cases of COVID, a tiny fraction of our school community. Attendance to school is returning to the same levels as before lockdown and most importantly, children are continuing to learn.

But it has unquestionably been the most challenging year for education, and I am in no doubt that the city, the economy, our families, have all experienced challenge too.