Commenting on a new study by the University of Cambridge and University College London looking at government guidance to schools during the pandemic, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“It is very clear that the government has been a major source of stress for school leaders during the pandemic.

“Obviously uncertainty and frequent changes couldn’t be entirely avoided during such an unprecedented situation, but the lack of timely and straightforward advice for schools from the Department for Education has caused real problems for leaders.

“Not only was guidance last minute and impenetrably dense, with changes buried in previous pages of text, it was also in some cases contradictory and left school leaders more confused than before about what they should be doing to keep people safe. Repeatedly leaders were given information at the same time – or even later – than the public, leaving them unable to answer questions from concerned parents and staff.

“This isn’t acceptable. School leaders and their teams worked all hours during the pandemic and moved heaven and earth for the children in their care – they could expect the government to do the same for them. This report confirms some of what school leaders had to deal with. The success of schools was in-spite of government not because of it.”