Back to school?

摘要

As a director of children's services, the start of the new school year is always full of excitement and promise. There is a cautious attempt at normality this time round, but after the bewildering events of the last 18 months there are few certainties beyond the fact pupils' experiences have been, and will continue to be, very different.This new beginning offers an opportunity to reflect on our priorities for children and young people following such a difficult period. The importance of children remaining in schools was clear for all to see during the height of the pandemic when the Government rightly ensured that schools were open for children of key workers and those who were seen as 'vulnerable'. Since schools returned to full capacity there has been a real focus on attendance, mental health and emotional wellbeing and the language from Government has been encouraging.The main concern now is education recovery. We are working with school and college leaders to support the wider needs of learners despite much of the anticipated funding for recovery not materialising.I was dismayed at the recent launch of a call for evidence by the Department for Education on behaviour management in schools focusing on issues such as use of mobile phones.