Education in Crisis: Holding Learning When Life Disrupts School

Secure routines, communicate plainly and use portable materials.

Challenge

As‑is processes were heavy or misaligned to classroom change.

Result

Lightweight cycles tied to live priorities created visible movement in rooms within weeks.

Outcome

Trust grew, decisions sped up and impact became easier to see and evidence.

Innovation

Two‑page operating system, coached rehearsal, artefact reviews, humane short‑form measurement.

Brief overview

In disruption, reliability is kindness. We protected starts, portable models and humane contact so learning could restart quickly.

Mechanisms that move practice

Leaders visited short slices; departments codified models; artefacts stayed next to numbers so discussion stayed concrete.

Human moments that matter

Colleagues practised aloud, mentors stood beside them and families received plain English communications that explained what would happen next.

Keeping workload net zero

Templates replaced reinvention; calendars aligned deadlines; any process that did not improve teaching time was retired.

Evidence and alignment

Signals were simple and believable - time to settled work, clarity of models, retrieval movement and short viva checks.

Impact

Calmer rooms, clearer modelling and steadier workload produced better retention and more minutes spent thinking about quality ideas.

Lessons for leaders and investors

• Publish decision rights so accountability feels fair and fast.
• Review artefacts with measures; prefer evidence close to the work.
• Protect rehearsal time, especially in EYFS and key stage 1 where foundations compound.
• Retire low‑value tasks to keep workload net‑zero.

Full Article

What this means for school leaders and investors

Education in Crisis: Holding Learning When Life Disrupts School is a reminder that schools in fragile contexts have to deliver stability before acceleration. The surface story is familiar: leaders are asked to improve outcomes, protect wellbeing and keep the organisation financially credible, all at once. The deeper issue is whether a school can turn big ideas into small, repeatable acts that pupils experience every day.

For leaders, this means choosing fewer priorities, defining the classroom behaviours that show those priorities are real, and then protecting staff time so the work is sustainable. A plan that reads well but cannot be enacted in a normal week creates cynicism, and cynicism spreads quickly.

For boards and investors, the best question is not 'Do we have a strategy?' but 'Do we have a routine?'. Evidence should include artefacts such as model lessons, common resources, coaching logs and clear decision points, not only narrative updates.

Full narrative expansion

In practice, successful schools describe the problem with precision before they reach for a programme. They agree what will improve, for whom, and how they will know. This avoids the common trap of launching a new initiative that feels busy but does not change teaching.

The strongest narratives are not heroic. They are operational. Leaders build routines for modelling, rehearsal and follow up, and they create simple artefacts that make quality easier to repeat. They also define non-negotiables so staff are not left guessing what matters most.

This is where a practical lens is helpful. It asks: what does the teacher do at 8.55 on a wet Tuesday? What do pupils do? What do leaders look at in the first five minutes of a visit? If those answers are clear, the rest of the story is likely to hold.

What changed in practice

In crisis contexts, stability is the first intervention. Schools that succeeded protected three things: a predictable lesson start, portable learning materials that worked without electricity or connectivity, and clear, frequent communication in plain language. When families did not know when or whether school would reopen, those three anchors kept learning alive. The approach aligns with INEE Minimum Standards for education in emergencies and with evidence from UNESCO and UNICEF on maintaining continuity of learning in fragile states. Leaders can review attendance after reopening, check artefact completion rates during disruption, and sample family feedback on communication clarity. Those signals reveal whether the stability mechanisms are working without imposing heavy reporting during a crisis.

Human moments that built the culture

A teacher sent home learning packs that could be used without Wi‑Fi and families reported relief. A pupil returned after weeks away and found the lesson start familiar enough to rejoin immediately. A parent received a weekly message in plain English that explained what to expect and felt included rather than abandoned. A leader protected daily briefing routines even when the calendar was chaotic, and staff described it as an anchor. These moments show that reliability is a form of care, especially when external conditions are unpredictable.

Results: what shifted

When schools reopened, attendance recovered faster where routines had been maintained. Pupils who had access to portable materials showed smaller learning gaps. Family trust remained higher where communication had been clear and regular. Staff retention improved because workload had been protected even during disruption. Leaders reported that decisions could be made quickly because roles and decision rights had been published in advance. The cost was minimal because the work focused on simplifying rather than adding.

Workload stayed manageable

Portable materials used templates and model examples rather than bespoke content for every lesson. Communication followed a simple weekly script rather than ad hoc messages. Leaders retired low‑priority tasks to create space for crisis response. Briefings stayed short and focused on immediate actions rather than lengthy updates. The result was a system that maintained stability without exhausting staff during an already demanding time.

Evidence that moves boards and inspectors

Leaders presented attendance data from before, during and after disruption to show recovery speed. They sampled learning artefacts to demonstrate continuity of curriculum. Family feedback captured communication quality and trust levels. Staff surveys revealed whether workload had been protected. When inspections resumed, visitors saw the stability routines still in place and recognised their value. Boards received short case logs with before‑and‑after examples rather than lengthy narrative reports. The evidence was credible because it came from practice rather than policy documents.

Sources and further reading

Selected links to expand on the themes in this article.

• INEE Minimum Standards for Education (INEE)
• Education in emergencies (UNICEF)
• Learning Poverty overview (World Bank)
• Global Education Monitoring Report (UNESCO)
• Working Together to Safeguard Children (DfE)