As part of our new feature, we are talking with members of the ̨��swag Family and finding out how life has changed for them since the school closures announcement.

This time we chat with Lauren Orange, Digital Communications Lead for the ̨��swag Family. 

Read on to see how Lauren’s day to day life has been changed due to the social distancing measures taken by the Government.

[̨��swag.com] Hi Lauren, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. We appreciate you’re busy, so let’s get to it! Things have been turned upside down recently, for reasons we are all too aware of. So, for you what has been the most difficult aspect of the lockdown period for you and your work?

“Thank you for asking me to take part. I am used to being on the other side of all this!

“I think like most, I have struggled with working from home and juggling children at the same time!!! I have two boys, aged 2 and 7, so it has been hard to adjust to working, homeschooling and generally looking after the kids all at the same time.

“I've also been disappointed that our team hasn't been able to continue with some really exciting projects we had in the pipeline. Just before lockdown, we were visiting different academies and filming every month and producing some great video content to use across our digital platforms, which has sadly had to stop for the time being. 

The struggle of finding the right balance between working and looking after your children is definitely something we have heard from a lot of people during this lockdown. 

You say you miss the day to day interaction, do you still speak to your colleagues regularly? What’s a typical day like for you now?

“It usually involves lots of Google Meets, but it's been great to keep up that interaction with my teams. 

“As you can imagine, through a difficult situation like this, communication has been key, so it has been a busy time communicating both internally to our staff and externally to the wider ̨��swag Family.

“Websites have needed updating with key information and access to resources, and we have worked hard to keep our online communities such as Twitter really positive spaces!

“The OIE has needed support to communicate changes to CPD, and something I am super proud of is that so much CPD is still happening digitally.  

“Over at Teach North, I have also been super busy supporting the team to promote the School Direct programme and recruit excellent trainees into the profession! 

“I know it sounds strange, but working from home has seemed so much busier than usual!”

Something else we have heard from others! It may be a very different time currently, but that doesn’t mean it is not a busy time. For many they are busier than ever before.

Would you say that’s what has surprised you most during this period?

“To be honest, the biggest thing has been, and it’s not a surprise really, but just everyone's resilience and hard work within the ̨��swag Family. We have all done so well to adapt so quickly to put children first and have really worked hard through some really challenging and stressful times. I think it has made people even more proud to be a part of ̨��swag.

“It has been great how connected we have all still felt, and how I am still able to collaborate with teams via Google Meets etc.

“I'm also surprised with just how many coffees I seem to be drinking during the day now!! My daily cup count is getting impressive!”

Well we will have to get you back for a Brew With and we can dive into that! So, apart from the increased caffeine intake, what have you found most satisfying during lockdown?

“Lots of things! More than ever, I've been extremely proud to be part of the ̨��swag Family.  

“The way everyone has pulled together throughout this difficult time has been so lovely.  Everyone has lived and breathed our vision of children first. Online resources were quickly gathered, the input and dedication from everyone to produce these is overwhelming!

“I'm also super proud of how positive our online digital community via Twitter etc has continued to grow!  It's great to see so many photos of children engaging with their learning, and what the teachers in their local communities have done to put children first and open academies for children of key workers etc.

“Over at Teach North, it is great that we are still able to recruit trainees into the teaching profession, through holding remote interviews. The team were quickly able to set these up and provide additional information via the website on what it would entail to try and reassure and put our trainees at ease!  

Just a few things then!

“That’s not all! On a personal level, I'm proud that I've still been able to keep up with my own CPD, to maintain my Chartered Marketer status, completing courses on Digital Marketing offered by Google and generally keeping up with my own learning!

“I'm also proud of how I've juggled everything, as well as homeschooling my own children. I have learnt a thing or two along the way myself and it's a great insight into the world of teaching and just what a brilliant job teachers do day in day out!

Sounds like you’ve really taken the positives out of this experience. So how do you think it will affect your approach to your work once things have reverted back to some kind of normality?

“I think in general it might change the way we offer some CPD programmes through the OIE in the future and events in general.  

“For Teach North, it's been great that interviews have now been able to be done remotely, as well as our information events, which have currently turned into one to one personalised phone calls! 

“Maybe this is something we should consider offering more of once lockdown has ended anyway. It's also opened up discussions about virtual tours of academies for open evenings and transitions - something to explore once we get back up and running with filming perhaps!”

Lots to look forward to then! Thanks for your time, Lauren.