Lockdown: Realistic Expectations

Lucy Flower, The MTPT Project’s York Representative outlines the most helpful things that her school leadership team has done to support her as a working parent during the period of school closure and national lockdown.

Trying to be a good parent to a newly walking toddler, whilst being unable to leave the house other than a repetitive stroll around the local neighbourhood, is extremely wearing. The constant comparison to the fabulous crafty ideas on Instagram – complete with pictures of immaculately designed and maintained living rooms, and spotlessly clean beaming toddlers, whilst yours looks like a grubby grumpy Victorian street child – is just exhausting. Add in the work load of an educator, along with an unhealthy dose of guilt at not fulfilling any role particularly well, and you can understand why us parent-educators are fed up.

The horror stories shared on edutwitter of checking in and out at the start and end of each working day, submitting logs detailing your hours’ work, streaming online lessons, and learning walks are thankfully, not my experience at all.

My school leaders have done many things to be accommodating and flexible during lockdown, but by far the best thing they have done to help me to balance work and home life is to set realistic expectations on workload.

They have done this in four key ways:

• Thinking ahead: Prior to the announcement of schools closing, we prepared two weeks’ worth of online work for students to access via Google Classrooms. As soon as closures were announced, this was ready and waiting to be immediately uploaded. This meant that for the first two weeks of lockdown I could focus solely on my and my family’s wellbeing and adjustment to the ‘new normal’.
• Clear communication of expectations: Once school closures were announced we had a full staff briefing (socially distanced!) where the expectations of our working from home, and the rota to support remaining open for key worker and vulnerable children was communicated. This meant that I could talk through childcare and daily routines with my husband, confident in what I would be required to do on a daily and weekly basis.
• Realistic expectations: My school leaders knew that each of us had differing home circumstances – many with children or other dependents – and made a decision not to require us to live stream, or check in and out, or log our daily activities. They recognised that working life would need to be flexible around priorities such as childcare. We have been asked to check for student comments and questions on work once every 24 hours (this can be done from a smart phone), to schedule approved work and check through students’ submissions, providing a response weekly. This meant I felt trusted as a colleague, and valued as a parent, with the acknowledgement that my priority would ultimately be my child. 
• Checking in: On at least a weekly basis, line managers at all levels are checking in with their colleagues solely for a well-being discussion. This has enabled me to ‘manage up’ and qualify how much additional work (forward planning for September etc) I can do around my childcare, as well as ensuring I feel cared for. 

My advice to school leaders as a parent-teacher is to carefully consider your expectations of colleague’s workload. Understanding that they are family members, carers, and ultimately people first is crucial to ensure their well-being.