Moving forwards - The landscape of Early Years Following the Coronavirus Pandemic
What a year it’s been! No one could have predicted the bizarreness this year has brought – school and setting closures, ‘bubbles’ of children, furloughed staff, Zoom teaching and singing Happy Birthday whilst washing our hands. You couldn’t have made it up! However, we’ve now had to accept that we’re not moving on from life after COVID, but making preparations to live with it, at least for the foreseeable future.
As settings return for the autumn term, it’s the closest they’ve been to normal since March 20th. More children will be attending, some have been relaxing their restrictions on what the environment looks like, there has been an increase in the number of children per bubble and staff are coming off furlough. However, it’s important to remember that what provision looks like in the autumn will vary from setting to setting.
Social media has been flooded with images of classroom setups, all ready for the children to return shortly. This has caused a sense of unease as some settings are returning with soft furnishings, sand, water and playdough whereas others are still very minimalist and stark. There’s no right or wrong – it’s down to the individual risk assessment. This assessment will be based on many factors and again, these will vary across settings. It could include vulnerable staff and children, the ages of children, facilities to increase cleaning and access to PPE.
Many settings are still not permitting parents and carers to enter the premises. This is undoubtedly unnerving as we are used to promoting partnerships with parents. In the Early Years, we have become adept at involving families in our provision through settling in sessions, stay and play events, an open-door policy, coffee mornings and the Christmas nativity. We now have to be creative in how we can continue to develop and maintain these partnerships whilst living through the pandemic. Online learning journeys are a fantastic way of connecting with families, sharing information about the children, uploading photos, updating with information and news.
Families themselves will need reassurance. We can share photos of the provision to act as talking prompts at home with regards to the transition. These can help families come to terms with not entering the premises on their child’s first day or their return after a significant time away. Inform them of new routines, terms and conditions, expectations and activities their child will be participating in. If you don’t use an online learning journey system, perhaps invest in a large freestanding whiteboard which you can put outside and update daily. Consider the use of social media to share photos of the environment and important information.
Remember to involve staff in all changes to policies and procedures. It’s vitally important that they are aware of the precautions put in place to protect everyone. Consider how you can remember to wash your hands – perhaps regular alarms as a prompt for staff and children. Some staff will be feeling apprehensive, especially if they’ve just been brought back from furlough or have been shielding. Although in Early Years we can’t access funding for PPE, it’s wise to invest in masks, gloves and face shields as we have a duty of care to provide a safe working environment.
The experiences we offer the children may differ from pre-COVID. However, we’re a creative bunch in the Early Years so we can come up with ideas to manage the restrictions. Some may look to utilise outdoor spaces more than they would previously. Perhaps look to make use of resources which can be recycled at the end of the session – box play is a great activity for this. As boxes are open-ended they can be anything a child imagines – a boat, rocket, train, shop or home. Draw on them, paint, stick them together. As boxes can’t be cleaned, just recycle them afterwards!
These coming weeks and months will be challenging. We need to accept that we are doing our best for children and families, even though it might feel very different to before. As the old adage goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup so those in Early Years need to take care of themselves and each other. This can only make us tougher and more resilient. Good luck!