The impact of school disruption on pupils and teachers: The case of a RAAC-hit school in Northeast of England

Siddiqui, Nadia; Gorard, Stephen

Abstract

School as a place for learning serves a broader purpose for pupils, families, and for society more generally. School routines provide a sense of predictability and structure that can be crucial for pupils’ learning and well-being. When these routines are disrupted, it can have a range of impacts, both in the short and long term (Gislason 2010, Barrett et al. 2019), for pupils’ learning, well-being, and associated outcomes, especially for already disadvantaged students (Chetty et al. 2020). A recent example of such disruption was the Covid19 pandemic which led to the near closure of all schools in England, and internationally. According to the World Bank (Azevedo 2021), 1.6 billion schools were closed and the impact of school closure was manifested in lower attainment, a reduction in participation rates in higher education or the workforce, and lower average wages for the pupils affected (Fuchs-Schündeln et al. 2023).
By 31st August 2023, the DfE reported that 214 schools in England were unsafe due to problems with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). The autumn 2023 school term did not start as business as usual for 156 of the schools, which received an official notice of complete or partial closure of school sites. The government advised school sites which were built with reinforced autoclave aerated concrete to close, because RAAC has reached expiry after a usable lifespan of thirty years. These 156 had to close at least some school buildings, and alternative arrangements were made which led to major changes in the learning and teaching arrangements. These alternatives included a delayed start of term, and/or remote or hybrid learning. These necessary safety measures have changed the way learning was implemented in comparison to a business-as-usual condition. Schools have different levels of challenges, depending on the severity of impact.
We present a brief summary of impact of RAAC disruption to a school, from August 2023 to December 2023. Our primary purpose is to understand the nature and depth of challenges faced by pupils and staff, and to judge the likely impact on pupils’ academic performance. We will present
• the nature of disruptions in school routines and learning formats
• measures taken by the school leadership and staff to mitigate the impact of disruptions
• the likely impact on pupils who are due to take KS4 or KS5 examinations this summer
• pupil and staff experiences and their concerns about the impact of disruptions on learning.
We collected primary data in the form of school observations, in-depth interviews and focus groups with teachers, pupils and senior leaders. We conducted three school visits, each with two researchers, in which we observed the school buildings affected, interviewed the senior leadership team, discussed the situation with 25 pupils, and with 16 subject leads and class teachers.
To enrich our understanding of the challenges and subsequent mitigations adopted by the school, we collected available resources in the form of internal survey reports and documentation of the events as developed by the school management team. We also used the DfE website Get Information about Schools, and their reports of schools affected by RAAC. This was supplemented with grey literature in the form of news, blogs and opinion pieces.
The presentation will discuss the case for contextualising pupils’ exam scores for GCSE and A-levels this year. The lost learning of the entire exam cohort for KS4 and KS5 could be compensated for in some way. None of this disruption is the fault of the students, and it seems reasonable that their futures should be protected by a one-off decision for this year. We hope to discuss what should happen in future examples of disruption.

Citation

Siddiqui, N., & Gorard, S. (2024, September). The impact of school disruption on pupils and teachers: The case of a RAAC-hit school in Northeast of England. Paper presented at BERA Conference 2024, University of Manchester

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: BERA Conference 2024
• Start Date: Sep 9, 2024
• End Date: Sep 12, 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 17, 2024
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2865951