In the wake of the crisis

At the beginning of lockdown, it was hard to imagine coming out the other side and how on earth we’d return to some form of normality. For the education sector, the impact will be far-reaching:

Impact of coronavirus

Schools are dealing with wholesale changes in how they’ve had to operate during lockdown and face huge uncertainties about the future;

There are grave concerns about large increases in the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils;

A huge number of temporary staff fell between the cracks of the furlough scheme;

Some universities will have too many students this coming year, and some will have too few. There are about 13 universities that are at risk of going bust this year;

The incidence of mental ill-health and post-traumatic stress is widely expected to rise in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Our response to coronavirus

In March it became clear that coronavirus would have a significant impact on Education Support. The main areas of impact can be summarised as follows: • An increase in demand from beneficiaries for our grants and helpline services. • Due to social distancing requirements, a reduction in our ability to provide face-to-face workplace support to schools and education staff. • A reduction in our ability to meet fundraising and commercial income targets. • The requirement to transition our own governance and operations to a remote working model.

We moved swiftly to mitigate the impact and adapt so we could manage the situation:

We increased capacity in our grants team. We cancelled all face-to-face services and began work on producing digital content and reshaping services for remote delivery. We recruited to a digital fundraising role to support income generation activities. We moved staff to homeworking and set up appropriate tools for them to continue to work effectively. We provided a flexible approach for staff so those with home-schooling or caring commitments were supported.

The Board, operating remotely, signed off a revised 2020-21 budget, reflecting the environmental uncertainty.

In the wake of the crisis

We will of course continue to support education staff in whatever way they need us and have set out the following objectives for our charity in the wake of the crisis and beyond:

1. To be well known, and trusted, across the education workforce

2. To move mental health toward the centre of educational policy, using robust data and evidence

3. To offer a range of high quality services that deliver clear and substantial impact for places of learning and individuals

4. To be a centre of innovation, piloting and evaluating new ideas for wider dissemination

5. To become financially sustainable, generating enough income to cover the costs of our activities and generating surplus that can be used to fund innovation projects.

Delivering these objectives will only be possible with your help, so thank you for staying with us and ensuring we can be there to provide long-term support.