Is it a 'normal school year'?

As we approach the final term of the year, it definitely ‘feels’ like schools are back in full swing – but is it a ‘normal school year’?

For many years now, Fortis therapists have worked in schools spanning a large geographical area supporting children, young people, school teams, leaders and heads. Fortis therapists just like Sarah Soames, our guest blog writer...

We have been hearing so many different perspectives in regard to how schools are back to having a normal school year this year, with COVID not affecting how schools operate anymore. However, we would beg to differ.

Schools are far from ‘back to normal’, and the ripple effect of the last three years is having an impact every day. The expectation is for schools to already be back to meeting pre-pandemic expectations and standards in relation to results, with many presumptions made around children’s development not being affected by the experiences they have had.

From what we see, every day, the pressure is on and has been consistently in response to different stressors for several years now. Having survived all the challenges of the pandemic, schools are still under the cosh with little or no understanding from the powers that be of the impact the decisions they make have.

We know that there are lots of adults, couples, children, young people and families struggling due to the referrals we receive daily for support – the complexity of needs has increased across the board for mental health services. The reduction of socialisation, the collective trauma experienced, and the impact on development has had a profound impact on children, young people and the adults who surround them.

Our main focus at Fortis is to be dedicated to providing much-needed support, quickly and with the right therapist. With so many people who are sadly struggling, working collaboratively with schools every day is an amazing way of working to meet the best interests of the clients we see, and to support the teams in schools and the parents too.

Fortis teams in schools are passionately dedicated to pupils and families, and we have witnessed their role evolving significantly over the 10 years we have been working with them. The expectations are schools will provide a range of support and absorb the challenges they are now facing and keep getting the results expected to demonstrate ‘good education’.

One of the challenges they are facing, is financial cuts and increasing pay (increases which are deserved by the way) but using an existing budget which has not been financially planned for – these are being made after budgets, strategies and plans have already been made for the academic year, so there is no room to manoeuvre.

Leaders are having to assess their budgets, their people, and the services they provide for their families. Schools that have worked tirelessly to ensure they have the most effective organisational structure for their school. Enabling effective teaching, differentiation, training, pastoral support and learning support for those children who need a more intensive level of support, team well-being, and trauma-informed approaches – the ever-growing, incredibly important list goes on.

But more than that, when a Head even begins to think about making cuts due to lack of funds (especially when those decisions are beyond their control), not lack of needs and to decide which resources (we are talking pencils and people here) are less vital, we know we have a problem as a society. Added to this, is the impact on Trusts, which run the risk of being financially unstable if they do not make decisions quickly and potentially severely in preparation for the proposed reduction in revenue. This means, our children’s education and development, and our future workforce, are at risk. And specialist skills are going to be cut.

How and where the cost cuts, are going to be seen and felt is not yet fully known. One thing is for sure, any cutbacks will come at a cost to schools (and people) who are already stretched and have been under unprecedented pressure for some time now, and the impact is worrying.

We know from what we are seeing the support provided by schools and by services is invaluable and needed now more than ever, due to the impact of recent times. Some themes we are seeing in schools are:

• Violent behaviour across all years and the ripple effects this has on the individual, others in the classroom and school teams.
• All school pupils are expected to function at their current school year level, yet in reality, they have not moved up in the ‘usual’ education system and have not developed in the ‘usual’ way and the ‘usual’ world, to prepare them for where they are expected to be, and this is reflected in their areas of development, functioning, capacity and behaviour.
• Those who are vulnerable and have been contained in their formative years due to lockdowns, separations in schools, transitions, and early years are now struggling with more freedom in the school – with increasing anxiety, low mood, eating difficulties, trauma responses, body dysmorphia and overwhelm, difficulties with concentration to name a few.
• We are receiving referrals for children with behaviours challenging in school, refusal to do work, and having themes of struggling with attention span and difficulties in engaging in lessons and school.

There has been a shift in communication. During the pandemic schools and services, adapted and changed as we were not able to be face-to-face, and communication was greatly increased. The situation forced us all to keep in touch regularly and communicate in various ways. This seems to have dropped off our radar, and the sense of being in survival mode seems to have returned due to these different challenges.

The need for a period of reflection feels necessary to assess the impact of the past nearly three years, with communication and collaboration to develop an effective plan, with less reactive input from the government, and with a realistic review to meet these new needs to help everyone in schools thrive.

As a team of therapists working day-in, and day-out within school settings, seeing first-hand the effects all of this has had, we can only hope that the schools and relevant people can come together to make positive changes to help the education system so that everyone, from head teachers, teachers, TA’s, support staff, parents, and the little/young people thrive and start to recover.