VIEWS & OPINION


A fresh air approach: can we ask teachers to live with covid and


closed windows? Comment by CHRIS BROWN, head of public sector at phs


Our new whitepaper reveals a quarter of teachers are working in classrooms with no ventilation. As we work with schools to identify aircare solutions, I’d like to discuss the findings of the whitepaper, and why opening a window is just the first step. I spoke with Professor Paul Linden, an expert on the role of ventilation


in the airborne transmission of COVID-19, who has worked with phs on the launch of this whitepaper this month. He said: “If we’re going to keep our schools open, we have to keep our children and teachers safe.” I couldn’t agree more. We know COVID is spreading in schools, and we know poor ventilation


increases the risk of infection. In addition to close contact, COVID is spread through airborne particles carried around by air currents in a room which can be filtered from the air and removed by introducing more fresh air.


This is why the recent whitepaper published by phs, COVID-19: Time


for a fresh air approach, causes so much concern. Worryingly, for over a quarter (27%) of teachers nationwide,


implementing the open window policy isn’t possible, because they work in classrooms where windows cannot be opened. Nine in 10 education staff said there was between one and 10 rooms


in their school with windows that couldn’t be opened, with half of staff (50%) saying it was impossible to implement the open window guidelines in up to 10 classrooms. This means that the virus can spread without resistance in these settings. For those teachers who can open windows, it’s not necessarily a clear-


cut picture either. A fifth (21%) of teachers expressed the Government’s current guidelines on ventilation were impractical, with a further quarter (25%) saying it caused more problems. A quarter (24%) of educators claimed it causes more viruses due to students and teachers being cold in the classroom, leading to causing further absenteeism with half (50%) saying they have more staff off than ever before. Last week we spoke to a teacher in Leeds, who told us it was minus-


one degrees outside, and in their classroom, every single window and the fire door was opened to keep the classroom ventilated. Having the fresh air come in makes teachers and pupils feel more at


ease but this also comes at a cost. Is it conducive to good learning? Or are we forcing another obstacle into the path of teaching? We have to accept that opening windows is just the first step, and we


have to ask ourselves how practical this is, and how much responsibility can we put on teachers? How much should they open windows and for how long? Every classroom is different and ventilation is complicated; we can’t expect teachers to be ventilation experts. The best answer has to be a combination of solutions that suits each individual classroom. Governments need to support schools, to help them understand the


solutions available and provide guidance alongside funding to improve indoor air quality. Pupils, teachers, assistants, canteen staff, office managers; every individual should be provided with the best possible environment to learn, work and stay healthy. To read the whitepaper, please go to:


https://www.phs.co.uk/media/2997/97172-phs-group-education-air-care- whitepaper_final.pdf


Why school management will change in 2022


Comment by MARK HODGES, Education Sector Lead at Cantium Business Solutions


Many school leaders have felt much trepidation over the past 18-months as restrictions and high levels of Covid-related staff absences have led to children being sent home to learn remotely. The challenging circumstances and step away from face-to-face teaching has highlighted the importance of adaptable IT solutions that simplify remote learning and school management processes. Without their usual face-to-face interactions, teachers have had to rely


on other tools and methods to identify how well students have been learning during the pandemic. Now that we’re seeing a return to the classroom, the availability and management of student data will become increasingly important as teachers and senior leadership teams look to improve outcomes.


Anytime access to student information Cloud-based Student Information Management Systems (SIMS) have a role to play here, especially when it comes to providing a cost-effective route to making information accessible and secure. Designed to help schools track and manage their student data, it gives a full picture of a pupil’s attendance figures, assessments, behavioural information and much more. The benefit of migrating SIMS to a cloud-based environment is that it gives schools and academies a way to reduce the costly and time-


22 www.education-today.co.uk


consuming tasks associated with managing their older, on-site systems. As technology ages, the skills needed to maintain it get harder to find and this puts schools and academies in a position where they are reliant on specialist IT resources. Cloud-based systems are hosted by third-party providers, so the


maintenance of the environment is outsourced. This means that in-house IT professionals are freed up to focus on more value-added activities while the provider takes care security, updates and upgrades. Cloud-based SIMS not only provide greater flexibility for the long-term but also give schools and academies the peace of mind that their servers and data will be better secured, easier to manage and that they will always have the bandwidth to scale up and down, as their needs change over time.


A 360-degree view The power to harness real-time data will also support schools and academies as they strive to provide students with high quality experiences and safeguarding. For members of the school community such as attendance officers, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators and family liaison officers, easy access to real-time attendance and behaviour data can support meetings and conversations that take place outside of the school building – alongside helping to identify potential safeguarding issues. The shift to a cloud-based environment also means that SIMS can be


integrated with other applications. By bringing together data from other systems it gives a more holistic view of each student and increases the availability of important information.


Flexibility for the future The overnight switch to remote learning came about as a matter of urgency, reinforcing the need for modern, cloud-based infrastructure. It’s likely that we’ll see further disruption to education this year. That’s why anytime, anywhere, accessible data is a must for ensuring flexibility.


February 2022


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