It’s been an interesting time to be in charge of health and safety being, as we are, in the midst of a global pandemic! We caught up with the person tasked with protecting everyone at Kedleston’s well-being, Chris Kennedy, who is Kedleston Group’s Health, Safety and Estates Manager, to find out how he and his team have been helping keep our young people, our staff and our entire school communities safe in the eye of a global pandemic “storm”.
A big part of being involved in health and safety is being prepared and planning ahead. While no-one could have anticipated the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic, or how it would impact at every level of our lives, we are, as a group supporting vulnerable young people, always prepared for challenge, the unexpected and for fast-paced change! So while the individual challenges posed by COVID-19 might have been very specific to it, and shaped our responses, our forward planning, risk management and agility set us in good stead for being ready, and able, to deal with whatever COVID-19 throws at us.
For us, our priority absolutely from the beginning has been maintaining people’s safety and well-being and for making sure our young people– in both our residential and day schools as well as children’s homes – continued to receive the very best care and education, and that our staff teams were also kept safe and well.
We were thrilled when that proved to be the case – we had much higher numbers of young people remaining in school than in mainstream environments and for those who couldn’t come into school, we were, because of our relatively small size schools, able to flex really quickly to take learning online – something many of our young people and their families really engaged with and enjoyed.
Our ability to flex was also key in making any physical changes we needed to in order to keep schools and homes COVID-secure. Our schools and class sizes are smaller by nature, so we were able to configure classrooms and monitor contacts more easily. We can make changes to our schools more quickly and are able to roll-out change relatively quickly too as we have smaller staff teams and cohorts to communicate with and to embed change with.
It wasn’t just the physical aspects of health and safety we considered to be important – the mental well-being of our staff, children and their families is also key for us and being able to use technology to keep in touch with families was a huge boon.
We were able to check families were ok, offer help and assistance where it was needed and even deliver work packs and other helpful items too. We provided laptops for those who had limited access to technology, and we used the tech available to us to help our children learn and engage, even when they couldn’t physically be in school.
Our schools worked hard to stay in touch with the children and their parents by using online platforms, using them to post updates, send lessons and learning, messages to simply say ‘hello’ and share photos and videos. These platforms also gave children and families to chance to post things back, so there was a real two-way communication. They helped keep everyone feeling connected and supported. Using this technology the staff were able to share important information each day and even run fun competitions to help keep everyone feeling positive and happy.
Teachers posted work home to families and provided online learning links designed to provide a specific remote learning timetable which was personalised for each child qnd children were sent stamped addressed envelopes so they could return their completed work.
We saw the young people, and our staff teams, make the very best out of the difficult situation they found themselves in. They threw themselves with enthusiasm into school – whether virtually or in person and whether that was in learning, or competitions, or the fun events we were able to hold closer to the end of term such as proms, graduations and even a virtual day by the seaside. They embraced it all.
Maintaining that engagement also proved to be hugely important when it came to returning to school after the summer holiday – because our young people had remained both mentally and physically engaged with school, that made it easier for them to come back. We had more than 90% attendance on our return, which was fantastic and is a number that’s continued to increase between then and now.
It’s been great to see them getting stuck into the “new normal” of coming to school. And it was part of my, and my team’s role, to make sure that new normal protected everyone’s well-being as much as possible.
For some, there may have been anxiety about returning to school – and that was perfectly understandable. We reassured our young people, their families and our staff teams that we had a wide range of measures in place to protect everyone’s well-being as much as possible.
All of our schools stayed opened throughout the two lockdowns and then, and now, we had a wide range of measures in place. There are hand sanitzer stations throughout school and young people are being supported and encouraged in their hand hygiene. Meals are being taken in classrooms, or in well-spaced dining rooms with multiple sittings. To further reduce contacts, children are being taught (and are socialising in school) in bubbles. We have enhanced cleaning programmes in place, with cleaning taking place throughout the day. Everyone has a risk assessment in place to help us make sure they have all they need individually. And we’re continuing to use outdoor space as much as possible for learning opportunities. We of course keep fully up-to-date with all current Government guidance and follow it absolutely.
School may still feel different due to COVID-19 and the new situation and routines may take a little getting used to, but it is wonderful to welcome everyone back into school. We’re determined to ensure everything is as “normal” as possible for our young people.