The pandemic has made one aspect of our leadership even more important: communication.

Get it right and we can build a great team spirit and sense of community to get through a crisis and build strong next steps. Get it wrong and people feel vulnerable, unsupported, confused and as a result angry or unhappy.

At times it has appeared as if the government is offering a masterclass in how not to communicate successfully: a lack of transparency, decisions taken late, confusion
in how things are explained, a lack of empathy in how and when decisions are communicated.

As leaders of schools we have learnt a lot in the last few months about how to communicate with a range of stakeholders. The aim of good communication in these times is clear: to bring as much clarity as possible, to reassure and to build a sense of community particularly for those who are the most anxious and vulnerable.

What follows are some insights from a range of people – with a lot of experience from politics, government, large organisations – and including those who have written blogs for Learning from Lockdown. We hope this will help you navigate the next phase.