UK Boarding school life- What might the pandemic have changed forever?

We are all now well into our second year of pandemic life. In some parts of the world, things are slowly returning to something resembling life prior to March 2020. Certainly, in the UK, Boarding schools have happily welcomed back most of their international students. The return of students has led to many schools and colleges taking some time to review what aspects of school life may actually have been changed for the better, due to the pandemic?

Top of that list seems to be virtual parents’ evenings. Some schools introduced these grudgingly, but the feedback received would suggest that many schools will never return to face-to-face parents’ evenings, particularly for overseas parents. For some schools, like Brooke House College, with most parents based overseas the move to an online parents’ evening has been an incredibly popular move and Principal, Mike Oliver, describes it as a definite “COVID Keeper”.

Also, in practical and financial ways many schools and colleges have really benefited from the reduction of off premises meetings that teaching and ancillary staff normally attend.

Whilst many of us are sick of the cycle of Zoom meetings, for schools, keeping staff on premises who would normally travel by car or train to off-site meetings has meant not only a reduction in school disruption & lower travel costs but also a lower carbon footprint too. It is hard to envisage the number of face-to-face meetings that used to take place will ever return and for many schools this is welcomed.

Other technological initiatives have also found favour and one of the more innovative ideas comes from Pangbourne College. The College identified early on in the pandemic that capturing the opinions and thoughts of students was trickier. Prior to COVID-19, house councils were run during house assemblies to contribute ideas and opinions that were then collated. Obviously COVID-19 impacted many of these group activities and so it was decided to place QR codes in the boarding houses. These codes directed students to a standard form that they could then complete. The results were collated and evaluated by staff. 

As Housemaster David Metcalfe says; “Not only did this get around the issue of not being allowed large gatherings during the COVID-19 era but allowed students to feedback as and when they wanted. It also allowed students who might have missed the regular meeting – and those who might find it difficult to discuss an issue that was important to them in front of their peers – to have an equal say in how things were done.”

Pangbourne intends to keep the QR idea alive long after the pandemic restrictions have ended.

But what about learning? Is there any real appetite to maintain online learning or further develop blended learning (part face to face, part online)? The answer generally appears to be that most schools have reverted as quickly as possible to 100% face to face learning.

Earlscliffe Head, Joss Williams represents the views of many in the sector; “The answer is that blended learning can be made to work, but there is no replacement for face-to-face learning – the nuance, sense of a child’s mood, ability to encourage, support and nurture cannot be fully replicated.  Even though our online provision was highly praised by students and parents, it is not enough in the long term.”

However, some well-known Boarding schools were already embracing online learning prior to pandemic and appear to have been well placed to develop this offer during the pandemic. Harrow online, offering 100% online learning for 6th form pupils, is a good example.

And what about pastoral care? As already highlighted with regards to the limitations of online learning, judging a child’s mood from a screen has proved very challenging. Some schools have seen an additional investment in mental health services during the pandemic has really paid off; as Mike Oliver, from Brooke House says; “the pandemic has made us all re-assess aspects of welfare amongst pupils and staff, so having more mental health first aiders available, additional wellbeing support and access to health professionals for staff and pupils has been fully warranted over the last year and so well received that we will be keeping them.”

Some schools have also faced additional pastoral care challenges with pupils returning to school after a prolonged absence. Schools tried incredibly hard to replicate the Boarding school routine for remote pupils, but the reality is that some pupils will have had more freedom and less supervision at home and so it is hard for some to adapt back again to Boarding life since they returned.

“Certainly, schools are really pleased to welcome pupils back,” says Caroline Nixon, Director of BAISIS, “and to provide them with the structure of boarding life. Really understanding what pupils are thinking and feeling remotely is very hard, there is simply no replacement for seeing a young person around a school every day and having unstructured conversations with them. Some young people do not respond to ‘planned’ communications, like Zoom meetings, but there has simply been no alternative for schools but to plan ‘catch ups’ and whilst they are useful they can never replace face to face daily, regular, unstructured contact…”.

Also, due to the pandemic, “the challenge has been to not just make pastoral care relate purely to ‘medical’ wellbeing”, says Joss Williams. The necessary COVID-19 testing routines in schools have been such a focus for so long, but many school leaders are anxious to return to a time when medical well-being was just one of many ways to judge pupil wellbeing…

School leaders are also certainly keen to return to school trips and a full co-curricular life. Virtual tours of museums via platforms such as Google Arts & Culture are wonderful, but nothing can replace the richness of visiting the theatre or an historical site in person.

So, whilst some aspects of pandemic life have led to excellent new initiatives which have enhanced Boarding school life, most school leaders will keep some of the tech, but not much else. Their message is clear, there is simply no replacement for a full, face-to-face Boarding school experience…

Full article here-www.studytravel.network/magazine/news/2/28307

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