In 2020, that nation’s crack commando units of teachers were sent to quarantine for a pandemic they didn’t create.

Today, still wanted by parents and children the country over, they survive as teachers over Microsoft Teams. 

Much like The A-Team, we are all soldiers of fortune at the moment, not knowing what the next twist and turn of fate will bring.

Schools reopening: How we’re preparing to welcome students back

But even without any fixed information to work from, there is significant planning going on for the potential full reopening of schools in March.

Here’s how we’re getting ready:

1. Bringing in students early

We want good attendance from all for a successful reopening. We are getting ready to bring in students who had poor attendance last time and/or were Covid-anxious early, to prepare them for the return.

2. Reducing live teaching 

Depending on what the government says about the plans to return, we may have to have to reduce live delivery the week before we are due back.

Currently, we have all live lessons, all year groups, all day. Of course, ideally this would continue but we only have so much resource, and time must be prioritised.

3. Blending teaching

Once all children are back in the classroom, we won’t be expecting staff to deliver lessons as usual. Instead, we will encourage the use of lots of videos to ensure all students can hear great explanations, while leaving teachers free to support students who need it.

To prepare for this, teachers will be filming modelled exemplars of high-quality work, precise explanations of key concepts and overviews of curriculum units on Microsoft Stream between now and 8 March to use in class.

These videos will also be a resource that students can watch in their own time, perhaps with their parents.

4. Forgetting ‘lost learning’ 

Worrying about what is lost is not my direction of travel. Instead, we want an understanding of where we want students to get to in their learning, and what the staging posts on that pathway might be.

This is a slight flip of the recent narrative, but a deliberate flip, so that our young people are not in a deficit mode on return, and nor am I.

I want our students to get back into the learning and be future-facing by focusing on our curriculum. This will be good for their mental wellbeing and academic progress (and mine).

5. Getting staff match-fit

Everyone was exhausted early in September, so we’re trying to avoid that happening again. We are calling it our “Return 2 Strategy” and couching it in terms of colleague mental and physical wellness.

As well as looking at classroom readiness, we’re also looking at the physical element, encouraging everyone to sign up for a trust-wide Big Walk to incentivise people to up their daily steps.

6. Keeping lessons learned

My next strategy for getting ready is inspired by technologies that we have been using and innovating with since last March. 

What this will look like will depend on your own subject, but, for me, it will mean moving assignments into Class Notebook along with exemplars and creating Microsoft Forms for hinge questions.

Kathleen McGillycuddy is headteacher of Broadoak Academy in Weston Super Mare