Return to School
Building Resilience Post COVID-19
Staff have been working hard to make the practical preparations to welcome pupils back safely, but there are social and emotional challenges that school leaders, staff, pupils and parents will encounter after many months of disrupted learning and diminished and disrupted lives. We have all experienced the pandemic in different ways, with varied, often unseen, impacts. The challenges to school life will be equally diverse and could include:
• Anxious parents demanding increased communication with school management
• Pupils experiencing academic drift and gaps in learning
• Pupils exhibiting social anxiety or peer interaction difficulties
• Reluctance to travel or participate
• Families coping with bereavement, job loss or other stressful circumstances
• Staff anxiety about their own health, and the pressures of parents’ expectations and pupil disengagement
• School leaders who are at risk of burnout after months of firefighting without respite.
All schools will have given thought to this spectrum of need, and will have existing systems in place.
Not all schools will have the tools and support to optimise their responses.
Tiller is on hand to provide attuned response that builds capacity and resilience in the school community in the post COVID-19 environment.
Meet our expert
Donald Ewing has 17 years experience as an educational psychologist, working in a variety of local authorities around the UK, and with central Government in both Scotland and Ireland. He has developed policies for responding to traumatic events and critical incidents in schools. He is passionate about building capacity in whole-school communities to deliver positive responses to challenging events, enhancing outcomes for those most directly affected whilst making schools more resilient to future incidents.
Our solutions
To support schools through this challenging period, Tiller has brought together corporate risk professionals and leading educational psychologists to offer a unique programme built around the three core pillars of academic, social and emotional support.
• The programme offers a workshop environment for management teams, pastoral and academic support staff, and wider staff groups
• It will share evidence based strategies for tackling the core issues
• Workshops can be delivered in half day, full day or evening sessions, in whatever way best suits the scheduling needs of individual schools.
• Additional follow up resources are available, along with advice on next steps as part of a bespoke report for the school leadership, including emerging issues we have identified.
• We can also arrange additional briefing sessions tailor made for parents and/or pupils to help them understand the challenges, and play their part.
Our innovative approach brings together case studies, the latest scientific research and years of experience working with schools and on critical incidents and emergencies.
We have developed a suite of strategies and approaches proven to work in education settings. Updated for the unique context of schools in a post-pandemic environment.
Hear from expert Donald Ewing
Get the critical insights from one of our recent Tiller Talks with Donald Ewing and Tor McClaren, on the risks and opportunities inherent in our young people’s return to school.
Want to learn more?
To join us at our forthcoming Q&A on Tuesday May 4th simply register using the adjacent form.
We will also soon be scheduling three specialist follow-up sessions designed to help you as leadership teams, governors and parents. If you’d like to join us, or want to arrange a call with our schools team, just leave your email and we will be in touch with further details.
Building school resilience after COVID-19
18:30 TUESDAY MAY 4TH
Register now for this insightful session with educational psychologist Donald Ewing to learn how existing school systems can be improved to offer support to leadership, staff, pupils and parents as they re-adjust to school life in a post COVID world.