Special School Lockdown

Robbie, Amy and Ros are back for Episode 7, where we cover what life has been like in a special school post lockdown 1 and during lockdown 2 as we built up to a very different Christmas season. We discuss remote teaching and the impact of the pandemic on our community and the teaching profession in general. The podcast ends on a reflection of what Christmas and the new term turned out like, as we entered lockdown 3.

Leader and class teacher, Hannah O'Mara shares her personal experiences of teaching students with PMLD during lockdown. This is an excellent insight in to how teachers creatively reached out to students to provide stimulating learning experiences  in the most challenging of circumstances. We discuss the dilemmas and questions facing our community at this time and the safety measures we put in place to enable us to keep providing an education to our very special young people.

This is an incredibly insightful and personal account of lockdown from our Parent Governor Kerry Clarkson, mum to 10 year old Evan, who has Angelman's Syndrome. This is a 'must listen' for anyone working within SEND who needs an little inspiration right now. Kerry beautifully explains how we can be 'lights' at difficult times and also the unique challenges of parenting a special needs child during the pandemic. Kerry shares both her joy and the bravery required when your child has special needs; her experiences will resonant with many parents and provide a voice to our community at such an important time. Amy and Robbie will be rejoining us in a couple weeks to reflect on the big 're-opening' post lockdown.

This week we reflect on how we managed confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in school and the emotions we went through as a leaders and staff knowing we may be infected ourselves. We also discuss how we supported colleagues return to work after social isolation and the sometimes mixed emotions of being a 'key worker'.

We explore how our special school was organised to open more widely after the government announced England had met the 5 safety tests set out to help lift lock down. Set against the backdrop of Leicester's localized lockdown  we discuss leadership approaches and operational measures to help keep everyone safe in school and also the joy of seeing more young people in our buildings from June 1st.