Schools played a pivotal role in communities during periods of school closures often becoming the only front-line public service open and accessible to local communities beyond emergency services (police, fire brigade, ambulance service).

Although schools in Greece don't have enough autonomy, they played an integral part in their communities during periods of school closure.

State schools are highly centralised in Hungary and have very little autonomy. Schools maintained by various churches have more money and opportunities to collaborate with the community. There are also a few private schools that are for the privileged, but also provide scholarships for talented underprivileged students.

Schools played an important role in identifying the needs of working families, based on previous experience and collaboration locally. It resulted in most children in need being able to attend school without a break. Schools' opening their gates to communities also contributed to people being together outdoors and doing sports more than before.

So everything we know from Corona is the importance of fast communication channels between learning companions, students, but also learning companions and parents.

Definitions of 'school community' were fluid, contingent, and responsive to the rapidly changing needs of different groups. The experiences of families, and the impact of Covid on them, within a school's locality varied greatly according to transiency. More established communities experienced differing impacts, such as bereavement and overcrowding within households, compared to more transient communities who had urgent welfare needs.

Target groups include children from other countries, Roma children, children with special educational needs, and children from Greece from low-income families. A key common feature of these children is that they come from the lower social strata. Special assistance to these children was provided through donations by the Ministry of Education, the parents' associations in each school, and local businesses.

The school community included al teaching and other school stuff, students and their parents and carers. Collaboration between teachers and parents proved to be highly beneficial. Most obstacles were addressed through the cooperation and mutual support of the school community.

Teachers noted that a stronger, more communicative school community was very helpful during the online schooling, as parents often helped each other and even the teachers to overcome the challenges posed by their lack of IT knowledge.

School leader autonomy made it possible for schools to best cater for local needs and take the level of comfort of community members into consideration. Thus, those few who did not feel safe being among people could stay home without issues around sick leave or truancy. The strict no-mask policy for children nationally also helped communities to sail through this period with higher levels of well-being.

Innovative practices found were related to team activity.

School functions expanded beyond education to incorporate a range of services including provision of food, redistribution of household items (including washing machines and beds) as well as brokerage and advocacy functions. These provisions continued into the school holidays in recognition of the ongoing challenges facing some families and schools are now continuing to provide food and basic necessities for families as a 'year round response' to meet local needs as increased welfare payments agreed for the period of lockdowns are phased out.

Moreover, the headmasters think they have adequately responded to the new circumstances. The headmasters said they did the best they could. It was challenging to implement socialization, the transmission of values, and ethics; Pedagogy changed, but it retained its character. The main thing is that people must be immediately adapted to a rapidly changing environment.

From the beginning of the schools' closure, all teaching activities were done remotely. For lower and upper secondary education, online teaching platforms were used. For the upper grades of primary education, a mix of online teaching and the use of television was used. The use of television was higher for the first grades of primary and pre-primary education.

Very few children (2-10 per school) attended school during the online schooling, and they were only offered supervision, not teaching. Disadvantaged children who had no computers or internet access could sometimes participate in the online schooling by using the computers in the school, but as social distancing had to be taken into consideration, only one or two children could sit in the same classroom.

All schools remained open for those in need, especially families with more deprived circumstances and parents who either could not work from home or actually had to work from home without being disturbed. In higher grades, collaborative online teaching as well as self paced learning was supported.

Schools surveyed did develop a rather late effective reaction to the pandemic which did start in 2021 only.

Teachers roles expanded significantly, and often without boundary, to span education, social service and sometimes parenting functions. This included the necessity to accept heightened levels of physical, mental and professional risk without necessarily having access to additional specialist training or support.

Teachers took on an extra demanding role during the quarantine period. In conditions of technological turmoil, they were called to develop appropriate teaching material, teach remotely, do repetitions, and achieve new learning goals - at the same time some teachers had no computer skills at all. As a result, the teachers suddenly found themselves outside the interactive living environment of a classroom, in which they could until then guide their students, share their problems and with their presence reassure them of any concerns caused by the current reality.

Teachers had to undertake different roles during schools' closure. At the same time that their role as teacher had to incorporate new techniques and meet new challenges, most teachers had to also act as it technicians, psychologists while dealing with their own family issues. The issue of digital skills and readiness was also of primary importance. teachers had computer skills and experience in distance education through their participation in some distance programs or their relevant training. It is this experience that contributed to them having a positive and very positive attitude towards it.

Despite the growing number of digital tools in families the situation is still less than ideal, according to senior teacher's narratives. 'Paper-based' and phone-based solutions did not lead to satisfactory results: teachers were not able to make progress. The freed-up time and energy of teachers was used to handle the somewhat chaotic daily proceedings of online education. This is not changed by any number of the seminars that aim to train the so-called digital immigrants (teachers) to be able to face the challenges the situation calls for.

Teachers' role has not changed significantly, although the use of digital technologies became somewhat more widespread. The ministry monitored related teacher needs and tried to cater for them in constant collaboration with practitioners.

Whilst all school had to develop an online offer for the majority of pupils there is no settled view on the future value of digital learning as a consequence of learning online through the pandemic. Leaders expressed a range of views about the value and purpose of digital in their school curriculum that were highly situated in their understandings of their local context and community characteristics.

The offer of tablets to students by the Ministry of Education can be considered a unique action. This action continues to this day, helping several children.

Teachers had to adopt in using new pedagogies and strategies as well as class management techniques. The headmasters had to support the school community while they were the only ones to be able to go physically to schools. The provision by the Ministry of Education of tablets and laptops was very important.

The overall picture shows us that the educational system is simply not ready to fulfill its purpose properly in case of school closures and switching to digital classes.

The Netherlands is well equipped for and students are used to independent work using digital means, while not focusing on school learning only. Municipalities supported those in need of digital tools.

There was a huge lack of digital infrastructures at general schools but to lesser extent at vocational schools. Considerable difficulties with defining measures for continuing school services during the pandemic could be found as well.

Unlike expectations around teachers' roles and identities concept-making around of learning focused around the 'pre-pandemic' curriculum with discourses around learning 'gaps' and 'deficits' frequently mobilised.

The shift towards digital and distance learning was challenging. The obstacles that prevent a teacher from making use of distance education are technical problems, ethical issues of protecting personal data and intellectual rights, issues of student socialization and active participation, doubt about the future of teachers and issues related to distance education itself (preparation of educational materials, use of special software). Nevertheless, cooperation between teachers has proved to be beneficial.

The only plausible aim they could strive for was to maintain knowledge that had been taught before the Covid-19 pandemic. Another factor should be addressed is the lack of protocols regarding the curriculum and its adaptation to digital classes. This is especially an issue in the case of the youngest who were required to learn reading, writing and calculus online.

The government emphasised the importance of being together as much as possible and being outdoors weather permitting. This has resulted in more collaborative learning and also in fields not necessarily curricular. Research shows a small decrease in curricular learning for primary school that is understandable as online learning was not prioritised for this age-group, rather nonformal and informal learning was incentivised.

There was a considerable focus on subject and contents but less on pupils.

Schools now place greater importance on student and staff wellbeing and embed this into their daily provision in different ways. For some schools these are new additions, whilst for others they are expanding or developing activities that were in place pre-Covid. Examples include: embedding wellbeing into their curriculum; expansion of after-school enrichment programmes; integration of online staff social gatherings; and continuation of a Community Council which focuses on pupil performance and wellbeing. There were many unknowns as to the long-term impacts on CYP mental health, such as the effect of deaths within school communities, and the conditions of poverty many CYP had experienced. All schools said relationships of their staff and student community within school had become closer as a result of the pandemic.

The educational community has demonstrated how strong it is and has managed to cope with this unique situation.

The strong ties between all members of the school community were the cornerstone for overcoming this unique state. The continuation of the school life, even in such a different state was very important for the well-being and mental health of its members.

This situation is not that much better in the case of digital natives (students or even parents), either. Some interviewees expressed their surprise over the inability of children to adequately search for information or properly utilize the digital apparatus granted for educational purposes.

School autonomy made it possible to provide education in the school for all in need. It has proven to be a successful approach with better levels of mental health, well-being and satisfaction while there were no negative epidemiological consequences.

It was observed that the Pandemic meant an opening up for some pupils with different needs, i.e. a less authoritarian regime during times of pandemic.

Definitions of vulnerability shifted and expanded: with food and digital poverty affecting many more groups than schools had anticipated/than had been previously visible. There was less emphasis on specific groups such as refugees and asylum seekers, and a much broader understanding of intersectional vulnerability. Children and young people with SEND were referred to as particularly impacted yet there appeared to be uncertainty as to what that looked like for those CYP with SEND who were kept at home during the lockdowns.

Teachers and schools may have made every effort to keep children out of hybrid distance education. Still, children from low socio-economic backgrounds and low-income families experienced inequality and were left out of hybrid distance education for a while. To some extent, this phenomenon began to weaken with the initiative of the Ministry of Education to provide tablets to children who needed them to participate in hybrid distance education.

It has to be noted that regarding the students, more difficulties were addressed with vulnerable children and those at risk of exclusion that were most likely to stay out of the ICT context, this was the case in two out of the three schools. Furthermore, there were difficulties with internet access or computer use; this issue was gradually resolved with the help of the Ministry of Education, the parents' associations, or other local organizations.

One of the key aspects of the current situation is the integration of digital tools into offline education. Though, on the one hand this creates an opportunity for most children to catch up with the curriculum more easily, many face obstacles that are still present when accessing the educational system online.

It was an understandable, but bad decision to not hold the school leaving exams in 2020. Many students had difficulties due to circumstances outside of schools such as (temporarily) losing their jobs or rearranged households due to elderly relatives moving in with them.

Observation reported that especially vulnerable pupils are at risk being completely lost. Evidence that risk is not only related to migrant population but as well to those from groups with lower level of socio economic resources.

School leaders struggled to keep up with the frequently changing Government guidance and operated as autonomous agents in many respects. Decision-making for UK schools looked different depending on the type of governance of the schools. Schools within larger academy trusts were able to access more support mechanisms, such as digital devices, and interpretation of Government guidance came from higher up within the Trust. School 'closures' did not happen in the UK: all schools opened immediately following Government announcements of school closures and school decision-making/leadership continued into the school holidays.

Regarding Patras, COVID-19 decisively changed the way the headmasters managed the school. This process was done remotely by the headmasters. The pandemic seems to have burdened the headmasters, and their obligations have increased.

The situation under schools' closure proved to be very challenging with school heads. Especially in Greece where schools lack autonomy, school heads had to "juggle" between the official guidelines and the reality of their school community.

Receiving no substantial help from the government, school personnel can only hope that the number of infections stays low, thus avoiding any further lockdowns. Although the state was more lenient with administrative requirements, it did not help a lot.

The Netherlands was one of the few countries that had no full school closures and no mask mandates for children.

Despite the frequent votes held by the teaching staff to address the crisis situation, there remains a lack of clarity regarding the decision-making process. Specifically, it is unclear whether there are initial debates concerning new measures or if these measures can be implemented independently without prior discussion.

There were affective differences that the pandemic has had on CYP bodies in school spaces. All schools have had to manage bodies/spaces within schools in new ways such as 'bubbles', mask wearing, testing. Younger children had been affected in terms of muscle development (e.g. core strength). Anxiety was a particular factor amongst the secondary school and college in terms of the impacts within school spaces long-term, such as social distancing.

During the closing of the schools and their opening, they strictly followed the protocol set by the National Public Health Organization. For a student, teacher, or parent to enter the school, they would have to wear a mask and present a negative self-test. Otherwise, entry was not allowed.

During the schools' closure, only school heads could have access to them. The social aspect of school spaces was almost totally lost.

Most schools in Hungary still not allow parents to enter the school building. Parental engagement is a very new concept in Hungarian education and the COVID regulations further strengthened the rigidity of the system that tries to keep parents out in every sense.

In many places, especially in big cities, schools became more embedded in local community through opening up their outdoor spaces 24/7 for the locals. This practice has remained in place with the yards being used by school children during school hours and the local communities after hours and at weekends.