VIEWS & OPINION
We need to do more to improve pupil wellbeing
and mental health Comment by DANIEL MUIJS, Dean of the School of Education and Society at Academica University of Applied Sciences
In the summer of 2021, Edurio carried out their pupil learning and wellbeing review of 45,000 pupils across 165 schools. The summary of this research, for which I assisted in the analysis, raises some interesting questions for those in education. Pupils reported feeling overworked, stressed and lonely. Many pupils reported not sleeping or feeling well; fewer than half (47 per cent) reported that they have been feeling well overall.
Though the majority of pupils feel at least moderately happy to be studying at their school, one in five does not, which means on average five pupils in a class of 25 are unhappy. Additionally, a quarter of pupils stated they felt lonely recently, 15 per cent of pupils said they don’t speak to anyone when they feel sad or worried, and more pupils in peak exam years reported feeling stressed and having problems sleeping than other years.
Most themes highlighted are not new findings. Earlier this year, the Children’s Commissioner reported that one in five pupils were concerned about mental health, rising to two in five during mid-adolescence. However, pre-pandemic studies such as the 2018 review by the Office of National Statistics, found the proportion of young people feeling lonely was far lower, at around 11 per cent. This suggests the pandemic and resultant lockdowns, bubbles and other restrictions may be increasing feelings of isolation.
While the backdrop of a pandemic during this research is mentioned by respondents, the majority of these issues pre-date COVID-19 and will far outlast it. As such, they should be a concern for everyone in the education sector and are a clear indicator that more needs to be done regarding pupil wellbeing and mental health.
The solution is not going to be simple. Some may feel abolishing exams and favouring lower-stake assessments would decrease stress during exam time. The pandemic presented us with an opportunity to test this in the form of teacher assessment but resulted in greater inequality and lowered reliability. It’s therefore clear that more interrogation is needed into possible solutions.
There's also an argument that it isn't just exams leading to higher stress. For instance, one respondent points to general expectations and homework: "School has really high expectations for the students. As they should, but homework can be very stressful." This sentiment is also mirrored in the report's findings, with a notable difference in the proportion of pupils feeling overworked based on how many hours of homework they do per day. Out of those undertaking more than two hours of homework a day, 55 per cent reported feeling overworked compared to 41 per cent of pupils doing two hours of homework or less. With this information at hand, I would suggest schools look at ways of setting shorter but more high-value tasks that ensure a deepening or consolidation of knowledge.
In the short-term, efforts may be best spent helping support mental health. We need to equip pupils with ways to retrieve knowledge more efficiently to prepare for exams, and their revision beforehand, to help alleviate stress.
This report provides intelligence into groups who may be struggling more and specific times in their education journey where these issues intensify. Therefore, it may help school leaders build strategies and interventions where they are most needed.
Schools should see this research as a step on the journey towards supporting mental health and building school culture.
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https://go.edurio.com/pupilwellbeing
Keep schools open to protect education in the classroom and
children’s wellbeing Comment by ANDREA GREYSTOKE, Founder of Abercorn, a family of schools in London
As the Omicron variant gains momentum across the UK and the government now considers introducing harsher measures to curb the spread, we must do everything possible to ensure that schools can open safely in January and remain open to prevent further social and educational suffering for children.
Covid-19 has had, and continues to have, a detrimental effect on the livelihood of many, and young people, who have faced continued disruption to their education, have been hit particularly hard. The disruption to education has undoubtedly led to learning losses, which many are calling the “Covid gap”, across the country, but the pandemic has also had a huge impact on children’s wellbeing, and has “made child misery endemic” according to a recent Ofsted Annual Report published in December 2021.
January 2022
I believe that happiness is an essential pre-requisite to the acquisition of knowledge - academic excellence and personal wellbeing go hand in hand. As quickly as most schools around the country adapted to online learning, for many children, it was not a comfortable experience and at best, a considerable inconvenience for their parents. We must also remember that not all households have adequate or any internet resources and therefore were not able to access education at all. The pandemic can no longer interfere with the vital learning and development of the future leaders of our world.
Pupils learn best in the classroom with face-to-face, on-site learning. Learning in a structured, supportive, safe and above all enjoyable schooling environment is essential to help nurture happy, successful individuals who are well prepared for the real world. Activities like sports are, of course, also best enjoyed in person in the company of school friends, while they also help to keep children active and healthy, both mentally and physically.
I am therefore supportive of measures that the government is encouraging schools to adopt including mask wearing in senior schools and testing pupils on return from the Christmas holiday to reduce transmission rates. This is a small ask to ensure that schools can reopen safely in January to protect our children and teachers. The safety and wellbeing of our children and teachers at Abercorn is our number one priority and in fact, at Abercorn’s Upper School, pupils and teachers have continued wearing masks throughout the pandemic to try to limit the spread of Covid throughout the school and to ensure that our students can continue to receive a quality, and to our best ability, uninterrupted education.
2022 cannot be yet another year of disrupted learning. Interrupting children’s education should be a last resort. Keeping schools open will protect our future.
www.education-today.co.uk 21
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