'Yes, Covid was awful, but there were funny moments'
And so, in March 2020, my role as a prep school headmaster was about to take on a completely different complexion with the arrival of the metaphorical Monty Python’s Foot of Cupid and an extremely loud burst of flatulence. Covid-19 had arrived.
Like all leaders, be it in schools or businesses around the world, we were being asked to navigate, for the first time, a completely new problem…I don’t remember IAPS offering any advice on pandemics during my “Preparing for Headship” course a few years earlier.
I felt that, if anything, it was going to be my experience gained in the forces before embarking on a teaching career which was going to hold me in good stead. It knew it was certainly going to be a challenge.
I could comment and describe all the negative impacts that our poor pupils experienced during this time. The significant impact on their mental health and wellbeing as well as how Covid-19 affected their education – particularly those children that had SEND needs. It was extremely hard on all of them, and the repercussions are still apparent today. But they also showed immense resilience and good humour.
What about heads, senior leaders, teachers, support staff – how did they fare? The parents also faced challenges, balancing their work, home life and their new role as “teacher” 24/7.
But let’s focus on that summer term 2020:
Stress or hypochondria?
After the initial March madness of updating, rewriting and implementing emergency policies, endless risk assessments, “class bubbles” – as well as setting up online teaching for the majority of pupils – there was a sense of order, for the most part.
As time passed, the stress of relentless daily decisions was becoming untenable.
The fee remission question caused quite a bit of angst for all concerned. Local prep schools were being extremely generous in their percentage remission and in turn that put pressure on us to be the same. Some of my parents didn’t realise that our online offering was of a high standard and a league above our competitors, some did, but many still wanted more fee remission…not easy. Another full inbox from angry parents.
As time passed, the stress of relentless daily decisions was becoming untenable, and it did have its effects on everyone.
I remember sitting in my study one morning feeling slightly dizzy and – being a somewhat neurotic individual when it concerns ailments – I did some research. Was it a stress-related stroke in the making? What to do? Ahh yes, the school nurse was on site. Before you could say, “I am about to have a heart attack”, I had taken off my shirt ready for her to take my blood pressure…three times. Pretty high but was that anxiety or ‘white coat syndrome’?
Off I went to the local GP to have further blood tests…all fine. Was I therefore going blind and that was why I had lost my balance a bit? Off to the optometrist….
Nothing.
In the end, after ticking off all potential causes of my symptoms, I realised that maybe it was my three double espressos before 11am that might have been the culprit. Phew.
Virtual reality?
Like most schools, the use of online meetings, be it Google, Teams or Zoom, became the order of the day. There were many amusing moments.
There was one parent-teacher meeting where the six-year-old child came online holding a “sensual lifestyle product” that he had just found in his mother’s bedroom. “What does this do, Mummy?” he asked. The screen went dark for a moment, and a slightly red-faced mother returned to continue the discussion of the three times table.
Initially, I struggled with the “face to camera” thought for the day. It was before PromptSmart or Virtual Speech and similar apps that could scroll your speech as you were videoed – instead I had staff behind the camera holding Font 26 scripts on A3 whilst I tried to look straight at the video, without moving my eyes as I read the words…without much success.
The screen went dark for a moment, and a slightly red-faced mother returned to continue the discussion.
I always thought that the online year group parent meetings were the most difficult. The parents were at a heightened sense of stress as they were looking after their children at home and – especially with the pre-prep year groups – they were doing most of the teaching. It was extremely hard on them.
However, there was one couple, who throughout the whole Covid journey looked like the two characters from the 1930’s Grant Wood painting “American Gothic”. They just looked miserable, and I felt that if they had had a pitchfork to hand they would have had no doubts about where to stick it … in the unfortunate headmaster.
The staff generally stepped up to the challenge of online teaching. But, inevitably, there were comparisons being made between different subject areas and their expectations. Teaching 20 Year 3 children all day versus a Year 8 maths lesson (with marking) versus an online PE lesson where the children were asked to bounce a ball and run round around the garden twice; it wasn’t and never could be an “apples with apples” equation. The PE staff always looked pretty relaxed, I noticed.
A reprieve?
One area that I naively thought wouldn’t be an issue for once was the dreaded promotion of Year 7 pupils that normally took place at the end of the summer term. Surely, I would have a reprieve this year?
And so, I faced – with appropriate mask in place – the wrath of the disgruntled parent, Mrs Pardiggle.
Promotions! Head boy, head girl, prefect, head of house, librarian, science monitor, sports captain, head of drama, head of music, hymn book collector or dog walker – the list goes on. I realised I had been given grief, every year, for over 20 years on this very issue. It always followed the same reaction, happiness from the few and outrage, disappointment, amazement, or disgust from the many. No one could believe or accept that their child had been overlooked.
And so, I faced – with appropriate mask in place – the wrath of the disgruntled parent, Mrs Pardiggle, whose son had not been given the opportunity for a recent promotion. She appeared, full of ire, and then embarked on a tirade of abuse about her son’s lack of advancement; the unfairness, the outrage and all the usual hyperbole that people resort to nowadays.
She also made a rather mean comment about one of the other children who had been successful. “I saw Pip Gargery on Instagram,” Mrs Pardiggle sneered. “He certainly wasn’t following the social distancing rules. What will you do about that, Mr Bailey?”
I muttered something unhelpful about opportunities in the future and returned to my study to poke my eyes out with a spoon.
Anyway, we survived the summer term.
