THROUGHOUT this pandemic the issue of education has never been far from the headlines.

This week I visited Malone College on Finaghy Road North to speak to staff and students and to find out what difficulties the school is facing while juggling online learning with the education of the vulnerable children and children of key workers who are allowed on campus at present.
 
Walking through the corridors you cannot help but feel a sense of ominousness as the once bustling corridors are quiet and barren. The noticeboards that proudly displayed the students’ work are bare and the classrooms are devoid of life.
 
Talking me through a typical day, Principal Katrina Moore tells me: “I will come in and open up for fewer than ten kids. Before Covid I would have been in here at quarter past seven and kids would be coming in to go to breakfast club and you would be looking forward to the day. Now I come in worried about what might be announced by Stormont and this is quite frustrating for me as a principal and someone who likes to understand what is happening. We come in in the morning and the first thing I do is put on a bit of music for the staff and we have a dance. For instance this morning we were bopping about to Dance the Night Away by The Mavericks but it’s just a bit of feel good music to get ourselves and the kids jazzed up for the day. Our day is very different and the majority of the time is waiting for the phone to ring telling us of an issue of someone needed help whereas when the kids are here we know exactly when someone needs us.”
 
Like many schools across Belfast, Malone College are still running to timetable online. However, Katrina is finding that her staff and students are spending more time doing work than they would have in a normal day.
 

GOOGLE CLASSROOMS

“Staff will put lessons on Google Classroom then we can feed back and do live teaching on it. But you don’t want to be overdoing it. What I am finding is that staff are online more. It is actually getting them and the kids to stop. I am getting messages from kids and staff after eight at night but they shouldn’t be working past three. This week we have given the kids a couple of days to catch up on any work that they’re missing because when you are sitting with six or seven different classes of 20 to 30 kids and they are sending you work in one day it is a hell of a lot of work to get through.”
 
Like most principals, Katrina is all too aware of the issues surrounding digital poverty which have arisen since the decision was made to move teaching online. She is thankful for the support her school has received and is doing her bit to help other schools in the area.

“Yesterday we received a donation of 20 brand new Kindle Fire tablets from 21 South to give out to the kids. We have used computers that we have repurposed and are giving them out to the families who need them. Digital poverty is a real issue and a lot of our parents don’t have the confidence to teach the kids but we just have to get on with it and we have to do what we can to support each other. For instance yesterday I brought 10 PCs to St John the Baptist for them to give to some of their students who need them and the same with Cranmore Integrated.”
 
I spoke to some students who were on campus about their experiences. Third year student Sean Captain said: “Coming to school has given me a sense of normality. Learning online is a lot more confusing as you don’t have the teacher there to explain anything if you get stuck. It hasn’t really given me much bother but when It has, it can be frustrating.”
 
Another student, Ashley Reynolds, said: “I miss the interaction and the experience of being with my friends. The first and second years haven’t really had that experience. However, online learning has also brought with it extra expenses such as having to buy ingredients for Home Economics.”
 

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Third year student Chester Shaw said: “I miss my friends but Covid is very serious so it is better that school is closed for the majority of students.”
 
The mental health of students and staff are also on Principal Moore’s mind. Detailing her experiences she informed me: “My big concern is the mental health with the staff and kids. I had a pupil message me last week asking how I was and telling me that he missed school. I sent him back a message telling him I was okay and asking how he was. He told me he was feeling a bit lonely and I offered to give him a ring. He said if you have a minute that and then two minutes later he messaged again asking me to call him. I thought this is an eleven year old boy. All he wanted to do was have a little chat about his friends and stuff. It is that sort of little thing that they miss. We have kids and parents in tears asking for help.”

However, she feels the Department for Education could be doing more to support schools in terms of dealing with the mental health issues during  the pandemic.

SCHOOL COUNSELLING

“The Department of Education could be doing an awful lot more to help us. We have an issue with the school counselling service in that it has to be done remotely and we all know that a young person needs to have that contact face to face. Yes, they are doing it over the phone or via instant messaging, but it is just not the same. Particularly for the children who we would have had concerns about.
 
“They may not feel that they can open up over the phone were someone could be listening to their conversation. But I don’t think the department have thought this through and got one joined-up approach. I am having to contact different organisations but there is no joined-up approach to the mental health aspect of this at all.
 
“When we came back the last time we were finding that we were having to spend time chatting with our pupils and helping them readjust to being back in school. The learning had to be set aside until we could get our students feeling comfortable being back, whereas in normal times we would be doing assessments to establish where they were at with their learning. In the first two weeks of September we had ten kids self-referring themselves for counselling support but we had a waiting list the length of my arm before we went off and I dread to think what it will be like. The Department have given us money for health and wellbeing which is great but we can’t do anything when we don’t have those kids in front of us.”
Teacher Pat Cavanagh told me of life on the front line.
 
“A typical day for me involves setting my lessons and answering any questions that come through,” he said. “You heard from the students about how difficult they are finding it so it is making sure that we get as much teaching and learning done. Teaching is all about interacting and learning so that has been taken away which has made it difficult for everyone. It has been a huge change for everyone and we have had to adapt and share good practice so that we are delivering the best education for our students.”

Appealing directly to the Education Minister Peter Weir, Principal Moore invited him to visit her school and see the stresses being placed on her staff.
 
“I would invite the Education Minister to come and spend a day in a school. Be a teacher for a day during lockdown. Be a teacher in a school when it is open during Covid and actually walk your talk and see what it is really like. I know there are people out there who say that teachers have it easy and I can’t necessarily equate what we are having to deal with as to what our medical staff are having to deal with but we are dealing with a totally different situation and we need more support.  So I would welcome the opportunity for Mr Weir to come and spend some time here with me to see what it is really like and to spend some time with our kids and talk to them and not do it via the media where he is pretending he is wonderful and supporting schools because he is not. There has been correspondence that suggests the minister has spoken to staff and the unions but I know they haven’t in many of the decisions that have been taken. There has been little or no consultation. Please have the decency to come and talk to us first of all.”