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Concerns have been raised globally about the impact of the pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people (CYP). How prospective headteachers rose to the challenge posed by the pandemic in supporting the wellbeing of their school communities and reaching out to the most vulnerable CYP and families during the recovery phase is the focus of this paper. It is a longitudinal, principally qualitative study conducted in two phases with 60 former students of the Into Headship programme in Scotland. Phase 2 of the study drew on the accounts of eight students drawn from the primary, secondary, and special education sectors using individual interviews and focus group discussions. This paper draws on the accounts of three secondary sector participants in interview. Data were analysed via thematic analysis using a modified framework of King and Horrocks. The respondents had encountered a wide range of challenges and had been highly proactive in their approach through adopting both targeted and universal approaches to meeting need and addressing inequalities. The findings of this paper should inform the development of headship preparation programmes globally and the responses of schools in the recovery phase, furthering our understanding as to what constitutes inclusion in education. Full article

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has revolutionised our lives, bringing with it the twin crises of illness and the need for an optimal mix of policies to alleviate its impact on the population. There needs to be more evidence on the effects of the pandemic on livelihood outcomes, including an understanding of whether female-headed families in low-income countries fare worse than their male-headed counterparts during pandemics. Using high-frequency phone surveys conducted in Ethiopia and Kenya, we examine the aggregate impact of the pandemic on income and consumption losses, as well as food insecurity. The empirical analysis estimates linear probability models that relate livelihood outcomes with household headship and other socioeconomic characteristics as controls. Overall, the pandemic increased the likelihood of food insecurity while decreasing income and consumption, particularly among female-headed households. In Kenya, living in a female-headed home increased the possibility of an adult going without food by about 10%, an adult skipping a meal by about 9.9%, and a child missing a meal by about 17% in the seven days preceding the telephone survey. In Ethiopia, living in a female-headed household increased the likelihood of an adult going hungry, skipping a meal, and running out of food by about 24.35%, 18.9%, and 26.7%, respectively. Salient pre-existing socioeconomic inequalities further exacerbated the effects of the pandemic on livelihoods. The findings have important implications for public policy and preparations by governments and other organisations interested in developing suitable gender-sensitive measures to lessen the impact of future pandemics in low- and middle-income countries. Full article