National Assembly for Wales

Staff in the local authorities across North Wales and in the regional consortium (GwE) have adapted their work in order to continue to provide effective services and support for all their school communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

 

The most important thing for each school at this time has been the safety and well-being of their children and their workforce as set out in the Welsh Government’s Stay Safe Stay Learning Policy Statement (https://gov.wales/stay-safe-stay-learning).  Schools and settings have been striving to do all they can to support the physical and mental well-being of their children and young people throughout this period to ensure that they are now returning to school with motivation and enthusiasm to learn.

 

Regulations around the National Curriculum have been relaxed and provision and learning has not mirrored what schools would offer during normal times. As a result, schools in North Wales, (and across the country) have been able to develop distance and blended learning models that provide opportunities to:

 

·           maintain and develop literacy, numeracy and digital skills;

·           build resilience and reflection on personal well-being;

·           maintain connections with teaching and support staff and peers during the period of social isolation and the integration back into schools.

 

During the initial lockdown period, schools were supported to develop effective distance learning models, including engagement with learners and parents.  This work included:

 

·         Keeping regular contact with schools in order to ensure health and wellbeing of both staff and pupils.

·         Researching and referencing effective practice internationally in respect of distance learning.

·         Providing a suite of resources, websites and reference points for Foundation Phase, KS2, KS3 and KS4 teachers through Google Classroom.

·         Modelling examples of effective distance learning which have been shared nationally.

·         Supporting schools on how to best deliver Distance Learning through blended methodologies.

·         Supporting schools on giving constructive feedback.

·         Supporting schools in their Hubs or individual schools when there has been a shortage of staff.

·         Arranging regular ‘Teams’ contact meetings with every cluster across the region to share regular updates.

·         Supporting schools with Digital Learning and producing useful ‘How To’ videos so that teachers can further develop and vary their distance learning.

·         Supporting Teaching Assistants in their role through the development of a Google Classroom for TAs, including a suite professional development opportunities.

·         Individual support to subject specific teachers in the secondary sector and regular meetings with groups of subject teachers in secondary sector.

·         Providing and supporting Professional Learning to develop their understanding of distance learning.

 

The six local authorities and GwE have taken a collegiate, collective regional approach to supporting schools during the lockdown. They developed a framework to ensure that all regional schools had the right policies together with a comprehensive risk assessment in order to create a safe environment to welcome children back into schools. This approach was welcomed by all the education unions. 

 

During the period of lockdown, the Local Authorities and GwE, also continued to support schools with their distance learning and learner engagement, whilst also producing blended learning guidance in preparation for welcoming children back into school.  This work included publishing blended learning guidance that was co-constructed with Estyn and the other regional consortia alongside developing exemplar blended learning models.

 

In moving forward, the Local Authorities and GwE are now working on issues around learners’ fitness for learning, in preparation for when they are fully integrated back into schools. The region believes that schools’ preparedness will need to initially focus on three inter-related components:

 

·         Emotional and mental well-being;

·         Health and physical fitness; and

·         Core skills of numeracy and literacy, learning to learn, independence skills.

Responsibility for supporting schools to deliver each element will be agreed between LAs, GwE and other agencies such as health.