Post-Covid Checklist - Help Reduce Increased Anxiety in Primary School
UK primary schools hope to head for a smooth year of education this autumn, but it’s unrealistic to expect all pupils to bounce back.
A New Year – a new focus?
No-one would argue that 2020 wasn’t our usual year, with many challenges faced by all of us. In schools, we dealt with many additional responsibilities which normally lie alongside, but not within, our remit. With the dawn of a new year, will our focus be the same?
Christmas Bubble
There’s no denying that it’s been a most challenging year for Early Years settings and schools. Now we’re heading into the festive season, we all want to celebrate with the children, to make this Christmas one to remember. However, restrictions are going to somewhat limit the way we enjoy these coming weeks. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun – it just means we might have to think creatively in order to ensure we all remain safe.
Forest School in a time of COVID
Having to live with the restrictions imposed by COVID has required us to reevaluate how children learn. With lower transmission rates outdoors, and greater ability to naturally socially distance, outdoor learning is really taking off.
Those settings and schools fortunate enough to have Forest School Leaders are reaping the benefits of this inspiring approach to outdoor learning. The emotional benefits to this are well documented, and can only continue to be of value post lockdown.
How to continue your professional development during COVID
COVID has not only changed the way our settings and schools are run, but it has also impacted on the way practitioners and teachers are learning. Professional development opportunities have become fewer and fewer in recent years due to stagnant funding rates, however, COVID has impacted on this further.
Covid – Round Two
We were all bombarded with advice and directives on how we would bring our students back in these uncertain times and each school interpreted them in their own style.
Primary schools benefited from the ability to create ‘bubbles’ for their year groups, often having staggered drop off, pickups and break and lunch times.
Will The Corona Grinch Steal Christmas From Your School?
In How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Cindy Lou Hoo demonstrates her understanding of the festive season: “no one should be alone on Christmas,” she says emphatically. And just like Cindy, schools keep that Christmas tradition alive. Shared Christmas performances boost children’s confidence, cooperation and learning. It’s also a crafty and creative time that keeps tradition alive and draws children, parents and the local community together.
Covid – Round Two
As children have returned for the autumn term, their incredible resilience and adaptability has been greatly observed by many.
Even though risk assessments have meant a very different start to the school year, children are adjusting remarkably well - whether settling into routines, establishing friendships or building relationships with their assigned Key Person.
Snow Days: What's the Future?
Covid-19 has forced schools and pupils to be inventive in using technology. Could e-learning and homeschooling consign ‘snow days’ to the past – and should they?
Smiles and Laughter – The Amazing Adaptability of Children
This unprecedented challenge has called for all us to think in ways we just aren’t used to. As lockdown measures were eased and children gradually returned to settings, there was a lot of uncertainty and guidance was sometimes difficult to interpret, leaving many having to work out solutions for themselves or feeling they needed to plan without the full picture.