Living in the Time of COVID – The Wellbeing of Staff

We’re living in a time of increased anxiety, with many factors impacting on the personal and professional lives of the Early Years workforce. Some are still furloughed, others have been working in key group bubbles throughout, some teaching online and others will be back for the first time in September.

Now that we look to return to some sort of normality in Early Years, at least in the terms of the number of children attending, it’s important to ensure the wellbeing of staff.

So often, we do all we can to support children and families but neglect to take care of ourselves. Now, in these challenging times, it’s our responsibility to look out for our colleagues. We have all experienced the period of lockdown differently; impacting on how we approach the autumn term. Although some of us may be excited to return, others could be feeling intense anxiety.

Leaders and managers need to be reassuring, and make sure they are communicating the measures taken to ensure the school or setting is as safe as it can be;

• Share risk assessments with the team so they can understand the precautions in place to create and maintain a safe workspace.

• Listen to the concerns of the staff – their worries are real and we must validate these feelings. As we become accustomed to living with COVID, we will be in a cycle of constant reflection. What we thought could work might need tweaking. Any changes to procedures, risk assessments or routines must be communicated.

• In terms of communication, we should try to build on the use of technology developed over previous months. Question whether staff meetings could be online so everyone can participate from home. Could the email you’re sending late at night wait until the following day?

These procedures will help the team feel included and reassured that measures are taken to promote safe working practices.

Leaders and managers in the Early Years need to be mindful of the experiences and feelings of the staff team. We can look at the supervision process and review how this can support staff wellbeing. Supervision should be a time for reflection; a positive practice where we can feel empowered. It should not just be a time for discussing areas for improvement.

Leaders can focus on achievements and positive contributions, in order to boost confidence and morale at a time when practitioners could be feeling overwhelmed with the responsibility of keeping themselves and others safe. We need to recognise that some staff members could be negotiating challenging conversations with families. It’s important that we learn how to leave these worries at work and not take them home with us.

Although leaders will be supporting staff, they themselves will also need emotional support. These strange times have called for some challenging decisions to be made and comprehensive planning and risk assessment necessary. Leaders need to feel supported and have a safe space to air their concerns and have someone to validate their emotions.

Just as we are alert to changes in behaviour in children, we also need to be aware of staff behaviour changes. Perhaps someone has become withdrawn, are not eating properly, become distracted easily or attendance is diminishing. We’re all going to handle these coming months differently but if we notice something amiss, we must be prepared to take action. It could be just a friendly chat, checking in that everything is OK. It’s likely we’ll all need a pick me up – kind words, a thank you, a cup of coffee or just knowing that you’re available should someone need to talk.

The wellbeing of all staff in Early Years, whatever their level, qualification or role, must be given high priority as we live with COVID-19. The virus could infringe on our personal lives, as well as professional, making for a challenging year ahead. However, we must remember why we do the job – for the children. Giving them wonderful experiences and memories as we play a role in shaping their little lives.

The first few weeks back will need to be taken slowly. Precautionary measures in place could mean that children, and staff, need to adapt to changes in routine. This could include parents being unable to enter the premises and therefore children taking longer to settle and adjust. By taking things slowly, we relieve the pressure on ourselves, children and families. Enable routines to establish, relationships to build, interests to become apparent and trust to develop. As time moves on, we need to have realistic expectations for the year ahead.