Norwich School Blog

Lockdown Diaries: Mr Rowlandson, Assistant Head - Staff Development

In the next blog post for our series the Lockdown Diaries, we hear from Andrew Rowlandson, Assistant Head (Staff Development) who, amongst other things, oversees the school’s approach to staff welfare. In his blog, he tells us more about the steps taken to support colleagues through the latest lockdown.

"Starting a new role in September 2020, I was keen to make good first impressions. What quickly became apparent was that this was not the time for management theories, big ideas and wholescale change. Instead, staff needed someone who would listen and support.

Rather than returning to my corporate training, I needed to remember the reasons I had entered the teaching profession 10 years ago: to positively impact the lives of others and to escape the 9-5 desk-based way of life. In fact, I have come to realise that it is the interaction with children coupled with the fast-paced and active nature of the job that leads most teachers to enter the profession. Once again, with the latest lockdown, our approach and familiar daily routines would have to change.

Planning for the role began at the start of the summer holidays. With a team of colleagues, we walked the site assessing how to make staff areas as ‘covid secure’ as possible by adding screens and room capacities for example. Rooms were stocked with enough hand sanitiser to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool and antiseptic wipes to wrap the circumference of the globe! Additional, temporary staff rooms were created, and resources ordered to support the nomadic teaching we would become accustomed to. It was going to be teaching in September, but not as we knew it.

The next key step was to establish a series of short, weekly staff sessions. We began with a refresher on remote classroom best practice with Paul Todd, our Assistant Head (Teaching and Learning). This was followed by Elle Tivey our resident physiotherapist (aka Assistant Director of Sport) looking at common aches and pains associated with working from home. Jill Irving, a Health Visitor, then discussed key principles behind an effective night’s sleep, reminding us to ‘train and prepare before sleeping as we would before a sports event’. Finally, Debbie Larson, a Specialist Hand Therapist and Mindfulness Teacher at Spire Hospital delivered an excellent session on ergonomics and mindfulness focusing on the importance of just ‘being’.

Alongside these sessions, we gathered feedback from staff to help inform and improve our approach. I was moved as I read over 100 responses. Colleagues were stretched and yet resolute. Life was often finely balanced and yet colleagues were determined to deliver their best. Personal and professional worlds were colliding, often painfully, yet staff endeavoured to remain pupil-centred and professional. Whilst we have been able to make changes based on survey responses, above all else, I was left in awe of our staff team.

The pandemic presents challenges for us all, but I am grateful to journey through it in a community where each day colleagues demonstrate incredible spirit, camaraderie, and grit. Whilst I am excited about plans for Staff Development, most of all, I look forward to the day when we emerge into something more closely resembling normality: to catching the eye of a colleague as the Cathedral organ announces a new day; to returning to our favoured routines away from screens; and to the buzz of the staff room at break as we wrestle over the coffee machine. I look forward to being able to say: ‘thank you, we made it, well done!’."