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9 things teachers learned when they went back to school after lockdown

The return of schools has been met with both excitement and anxiety by pupils, teachers and parents alike.

The beating heart of any school is the staffroom and these are now buzzing with debate about the new socially-distanced regime and how well it is going.

For her new podcast, The Secret Life of Teachers, ex-teacher Mehreen Baig has created her own virtual staffroom so you can hear the gossip from behind the school gates.

In the latest episode she hears how three young teachers – known as “Mr Margets”, “Miss Gatsby” and “Mr Grumpy” – and their students are coping with one-way systems and socially-distanced lunchtimes. Here are nine things we learned…

The Secret Life of Teachers

Step inside Mehreen Baig’s virtual staffroom to hear what the UK’s teachers really think. Listen in to a weekly discussion about what life is like behind the school gates.

In the latest episode, The First Week Back, just how are our teachers managing the adjustment period for both the students and themselves?

1. Going back to school had mixed reviews from pupils

As you might expect, there have been different reactions from students to getting back to their studies. Some are all smiles. Others appear oblivious: “Pandemic? What pandemic? I’ve just come back from holiday, Miss!” exclaimed one pupil. Meanwhile, one of Miss Gatsby’s other, rather more aware pupils, turned up in mask, gloves and – she jokes – “covered in cling film from head to toe”.

2. Teachers now have to take on more roles

“As well as counsellor, teacher, first aider, mother and nurturer, we’re now security guards,” says Miss Gatsby. “We patrol every free period, every breaktime and every lunchtime to make sure that kids are enforcing social distancing – which, by the way, they’re not.”

3. The new rules can be an Olympic challenge for teachers…

One of the teachers, Mr Grumpy, explains how the new one-way system at his school is almost like an Olympic challenge. “I’m training to be the next Usain Bolt because if you want to go to the room on the right [of you], you have to go all the way downstairs and quickly get to that room before the kids get in. If I don’t come in before the kids get in that’s not Covid-compliant.”

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4. 鈥ut pupils are running rings around them

The students are finding that they can make the one-way systems work in their favour. “They find the crack in every plan,” Mr Margets notes wryly. And Mr Grumpy adds: “For the lessons they don’t want to go to – those one-way systems can take a very long time!”

5. Lunchtimes are chaotic

Having lunch and staying socially distanced is proving challenging. Canteens are a crunch point, meaning that some pupils are eating in corridors. And many are simply not adhering to the safety measures schools have put in place. “When they get inside the canteen, they are not distancing at all,” says Miss Gatsby.

6. Teachers are coping with the new normal in different ways

The new school regime has shown up different approaches among teachers. Mr Grumpy says that there are “hero teachers” who see the most important thing is education and are, perhaps, less mindful of new rules. Some teachers feel much less confident. “Others are really worried because they have a pregnant partner at home or a sick elder at home,” says Mr Grumpy. Meanwhile, Mr Margets has noticed that some of the older members of staff have “moved to the corners of staff meetings.”

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7. It鈥檚 easy to see how schools could close again

Teachers can foresee how quickly schools might close again. Covid measures are described as “patchy” [by Mr Margets] in some instances and Mr Grumpy foresees that “eventually you’ll find lots of staff off for 14 days in quarantine and there aren’t going to be enough staff to teach these children.”

8. Now everyone is back, many want to stay back

While many teachers are not happy to be back in school, the overwhelming view expressed in The Secret Life of Teachers podcast is that it’s good for everyone to have returned. “You don’t need a scientist to tell you that kids will be academically and socially better off going to school,” says Mr Grumpy. Meanwhile, one of Miss Gatsby’s pupils told her: “Lockdown was horrible, miss, and I am so happy to be back.” However, the teachers agree they’d like more information from the government.

9. There’s still a mountain to climb

Teachers accept that a work-life balance is out of the window for now. “Students need us to get into fifth gear to try and teach them a year-and-a-half of content in a year,” says Miss Gatsby, quantifying the size of the task ahead. Mr Grumpy warns of the impact of this extra pressure on the mental health of the pupils. “Just because we can work all hours under the sun, we can’t expect the children to.”

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