As part of our feature, we talked with members of the ̨��swag Family and found out how life changed for them after the school closures announcement.

This time we chat with Ben Barnes, Director of Computer Science at the ̨��swag Family.

Read on to see how Ben’s day to day life was changed due to the measures taken by the Government.

[̨��swag.com] Hi Ben, 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?

“In my role I am fortunate enough to experience the settings across the ̨��swag Family and not being able to do this has been challenging. 

“In particular I miss the year 11 students who I had been working closely with through the year, who were only five school weeks away from their final exams when school closures happened. I know they had worked so hard this year and them not getting the opportunity to show how great they are is a real shame. 

“Other than being in school settings, lockdown hasn't been too hard for me as I have been utilising tools like Google Meet to connect with colleagues across the Trust for quite a while, so it hasn't been a large shift for me. 

“That being said, having a nine-month-old at home who has decided that lockdown is a great opportunity to develop the ability to crawl at the speed of Usain Bolt creates a challenge in itself! She does love making a guest appearance in Google Meets though!”

Who doesn’t love the guest appearances on Google Meets by some of the younger ̨��swag Family members though! 

The sadness for those students not being able to sit their exams is something we have heard quite often too in our discussions for this feature. 

In your role, as you’ve said, you’d travel across different sites which is obviously something that can’t be done now, so how would you describe a typical day for you now?

“I don't think I would describe any day as typical, it's a bit of a whirlwind to be honest, I often get to the end of the day and wonder where it has gone, but I do have some structure. 

“I tend to balance my working day around my daddy duties, so tend to start work quite early, break off for a bit mid-afternoon and then pick work up again later on. 

“I normally have a quick Google Meet with Tristan, my Associate Director every morning, look at our projects, identify a priority for the day, contact those who are working on the projects with us and then get cracking! 

“As well as dealing with Computer Science projects, in and around the week, we also field a huge number of requests for support and guidance by hard working colleagues who are constantly trying to improve their distance learning practices, and we do our best to support these.

“At the moment the Trust is migrating all the email systems to gmail so I am supporting with this, and also setting up CPD to ensure that all staff are equipped with the skills they need through this time, with webinars like ̨��swag Online and also encouraging as many colleagues as possible to complete the Google Level 1 Educator program. 

“I am also checking in periodically with colleagues and supporting them with any issues they have, but at the same time I am trying to keep any meetings to a minimum, as I know we are all juggling a lot in our home environments and they have commitments within their individual academies. 

“The most important part of the week is getting the end of week OGAT quiz together, to make sure all colleagues finish the week on a high, we really enjoy doing them and I hope people enjoy taking part!”

Very true, nothing about the current time feels particularly ‘typical’! And who doesn’t love the OGAT Quiz at the end of the week!

Given how wide-ranging your work is, what has surprised you most during this lockdown period?

“Honestly, it has been truly humbling throughout this time to see the lengths colleagues across the Trust will go, to support young people at a very challenging time. I wouldn't say it is a surprise, but what has amazed me is how quickly colleagues have learnt to adapt their practices for online learning to not just survive but thrive.

“A number of colleagues whilst users of Google Drive were not heavy users of the other aspects of G Suite, and what is staggering is how they are not just happy to learn what they need to get through this, but how they are now asking questions about how they can take it to the next level. 

“Examples of this include, recording videos and setting up YouTube channels, what collaborative tools are available to improve CPD online, experimenting with new extensions to provide feedback to students to name a few!”

We have heard similar sentiments many times over this feature, and we don’t get bored of hearing it! It really is brilliant to see people coming together, giving their all for students. Would you say this has also been the most satisfying part of your work during this period?

“Well, my primary focus is always the subject of Computer Science and this creates a level of satisfaction everyday regardless of lockdown, whether it is improving subject knowledge of staff, creating high quality resources, working with young people, although some of these are not possible at the moment.

“However, I would say the most satisfying thing that I have experienced since lockdown is how the vision of a small team of colleagues around two years ago has come to fruition in the strangest of circumstances. There is not a meeting I am a part of where G Suite doesn't get mentioned, this vision is now not only positively impacting the way in which we work in this time from an operational point of view, but it is also ensuring that the provision students are receiving at this time is as good as it possibly can be. 

“G Suite is the mechanism for a lot of this, but it also wouldn't be possible without an unbelievable group of colleagues that have shown what a growth mindset the teaching profession has.”

You are right it is the ‘strangest of circumstances’ but it is true that there are many positives that are coming out of it, including the use of G Suite to help further improve our approach to educating children.

Can you see your approach to work being changed by this lockdown period?

“This is a really interesting question for me, as the way in which I operate hasn't changed vastly during this time. Sure, I am not in a school anymore, or teaching students face-to-face, but many of the systems of support and teaching methods that our subject colleagues use already utilise many aspects of this way of working. 

“Personally, I want to continue to ensure that colleagues embrace this brave new world of technology and will want to do this within my capacity, hopefully the Google Level 1 Educator program that is on offer across the Trust is a big step in ensuring this!”

Well that seems a good positive note to end on. Thank you for your time, Ben!