We recently held a webinar about Covid staff shortages and this is what we learned!
We recently held a webinar about Covid staff shortages, and we want to tell you all about it!
“We’ve taken a real hit over the last few terms with absences of staff”
Those are the words of Sam Keys, Deputy Headteacher at St. Bede’s Primary School, and they mimic the cries from teachers all over the country. Covid staff shortages and pupil absences have hit schools hard, especially at the start of this year.
Schools have been working tirelessly to keep learning going, and that is testament to the commitment of our educators, but the question still remains:
How do you make sure that learning is still happening when there are fewer teachers to do the teaching?
We posed this question, and a few others, to Sam Keys and Alicia Shaw (SHINE Learning Trust) in our recent webinar that was hosted by Teacher Toolkit’s Ross Morrison McGill. It was a lively, incisive discussion in which our hosts discussed the problems they have faced in the wake of the pandemic, as well as the best ways to deal with Covid staff shortages.
Here’s what we learned…
Schools can be a lonely place at the minute
If you’re not on social media, or teaching online, teaching at school can feel pretty isolated at the minute. With a mixture of staff shortages, covid attendance issues and the disbanding of local authority support, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and like you are on your own instead of part of a wider teaching community outside of your school.
Sam Keys echoed this sentiment about his school St. Bede’s.
“We’re a close-knit family. When one of us goes down, we don’t just suffer in terms of worrying about that member of staff being off, we’re also struggling because that means your cover has been pulled. Your support staff is no longer your support staff because they’re doing someone else’s job.”
“I think over the past few months, me and the Head have been cooks, cleaners and caretakers. You name it, we’ve done it.”
“It’s been a really tough place to be. It’s made a lot of people question whether they are doing the right thing. It can be a really lonely place; a real isolated profession at the minute.”
Sam’s words mirror the situation for lots of schools. Not only do teachers feel isolated in their classrooms due to their colleagues and pupils being off, they also can get overwhelmed by having to cover the jobs of those off with Covid.
Staff Shortages are affecting everyone in the country
Alicia Shaw from the SHINE Learning Trust gave us a brief overview of how Sam’s situation represented most other schools in the country.
“I think we all know from what the media is presenting that there is a national teacher shortage crisis. During the first week of term, a poll by a Head Teacher’s Union showed that an estimate of 10% - 20% of teachers were off with covid related absences.”
“This reflects what we at SHINE are being told by the teachers we work with. For example, a teacher from a secondary school in Leeds told me last week that they have 10 teachers and 7 teaching assistants off due to Covid. Apply this to all every school in the country, and this obviously has a profound effect on the education of 10s of 1000s of children.”
“Analysis of national data shows that attainment gaps have only been exacerbated by the pandemic and whilst there are catch up schemes in place, what do schools do if they simply do not have the staff to deliver this?”
The staff shortage situation has been dire for schools, but there is hope on the horizon! Restrictions are lifting slowly and pupils and staff are returning to the classroom, but still, the reality is that many schools will still need help to recoup lost learning and address the “profound effect” that this pandemic has had on the education system of this country.
This is where LbQ and SHINE can help…
Keeping the learning going!
Sam said that LbQ was an essential part of helping St. Bede’s cope with pupil absences and staff shortages.
“At some points in the height of the pandemic, I wasn’t able to mark pupil books for at least 72 hours because of covid restrictions. In the current climate as well, we aren’t really seeing that many books because of the restrictions that are still in place. This is where we have used LbQ, it automatically marks everything and instantly reduces that time lag of feedback, meaning that we could continue teaching effectively.”
As well as this, LbQ helped him identify the learning gaps that needed addressing immediately, meaning that he could focus his teaching on the issues that matter most.
“When I was teaching equivalent fractions to a new class I was covering, I realised that the children had only started Fractions in Yr 4 and had missed a lot – so I was having to teach all of KS2 fractions as quickly as possible.
If I’d downloaded a Year 6 worksheet for this, it would have cost money, the kids would have got it wrong and it would damage their confidence, and by the time I had marked it and come back to pick up their misconceptions with a new worksheet, we’d have lost days.
With LbQ, it’s instant. There are End of Topic Assessments by Year Group, and if you see the class is struggling with one, you can pause, set an earlier Year Group version and carry on immediately. Cost wise, practicality wise – it’s a no brainer.”
Not only did LbQ help him continue teaching during a torrid time, it also helped him identify learning gaps and address them in the moment.
SHINE funding for schools in the North East
Even though Sam says that it is a “no brainer” in terms of cost, we know that not every school can afford the resources, such as tablets, to implement LbQ into their teaching. If you are a school in the North, then this is where SHINE comes in…
In 2019, SHINE awarded a grant to LbQ to offer 50 schools across the North East access to Learning by Questions. The grant allows schools in disadvantaged areas to access the resources needed to take part in the project and trial the app.
There are slots still available to access the opportunity at a reduced price during the first year, so head to the SHINE Learning Trust website if you’re interested in learning more.
It’s been a tough start to the year. We’re now emerging from the Omicron storm with quiet optimism that staff shortages will lessen, but as everyone in the education world knows, there’s always something hiding just round the corner for us to contend with.
Whatever faces you in the future, you can count on LbQ and SHINE to be right by your side!
If you would like to watch the whole webinar, click here.