Post-pandemic: Transitioning back to school
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For many teachers, parents and children, the idea of returning to school after months of coronavirus lockdowns and social change feels like the light at the end of the tunnel. However, the actual process of transitioning back to school for everyone involved may look and feel quite rocky, driven by insecurities about whether we will ever get back to normal again. Millions of people have experienced poor mental health as a result of covid-19. A survey with teachers and school staff by Young Minds found out that 88% of respondents agreed that the loss of school routines has harmed student wellbeing. 79% reported an increase in student anxiety, and 74% believed that school closures had badly impacted child mental health.
So, as coronavirus restrictions are gradually being lifted across the UK, schools have a lot to consider. Some are operating a phased return with delayed starts and finishes for different year groups, and in some cases remote online teaching will still be in place for children who are unable to attend school in person. Also, some staff might work with different groups of children than they're used to, while others might have new caring responsibilities or have been bereaved during the pandemic.
Therefore, it is extremely important that everyone returning to school is kept safe and feels supported, and this blog post will discuss some of the key strategies that can be put into place to make this transition an easier experience for all.
What do I need to do to work in special education?
If you are moving into special needs work, then please visit this blog post which details all the education and experiences required to help you get a foot on the ladder. However, it is also important to check whether the courses or schools you are applying to are now requesting that you have extra training around mental health before you start, or will provide this extra training for you. Since the coronavirus pandemic has had a big impact on child mental health, then any training on this will be extremely useful for your practice and may make the difference when applying for roles.
However, managers, leaders and staff who currently work within special education, also need to take this mental health and wellbeing awareness back into the school so they can be supported as well. This could mean that staff arrange for wellbeing training courses, or it could mean that wellbeing awareness is incorporated into staff meetings and made a priority over the next few years. For all staff, it is important to consider:
- A personalised approach. Some colleagues may not need much support whereas others may require much more.
- Awareness of each other's emotions. Whether they are positive, negative or conflicting, these reactions are completely normal during this time.
- Ensuring that practical support needs are met.
- Developing coping and self-help strategies.
- Re-connecting with wider community systems and resources to strengthen the team.
- Rebuilding connections and bonds amongst colleagues, children, parents and other staff.
- Making time to talk. Create a ‘virtual staffroom' where teachers can catch up and check in with one another.
- Encouraging staff to ask for help and to model help-seeking behaviour.
Prioritise your child's wellbeing
During the pandemic a lot of mental and physical health support for children and young people was disrupted or cancelled, which means that children with pre-existing conditions will still be struggling when they return to class. Also, previous research found that up to a third of children may experience trauma as a result of prolonged isolation, and so young people throughout the classroom may be affected by this new problem. Therefore, both teachers and parents need a trauma-informed approach when encouraging children back into class, helping them to process their experiences. Simple strategies that can be useful in bolstering a child's wellbeing are:
- Being a model of acceptance, validation and empathy to encourage the class to behave in the same way towards each other.
- Provide frequent opportunities to express emotions as a group through talking about feelings throughout the day, or by making posters and visuals that offer words for feelings and emotions.
- Using your voice. Your voice is powerful in providing calm both through tone or volume.
- Monitoring. Set up daily check-ins to ask how children are feeling, if they have someone they can turn to, and if they want to act as buddies for others.
- Self-regulation activities. Introduce short bursts of games, mantras and movements which include rhythm such as breathing exercises, music, walking, rocking, swinging, running and jumping.
- Directing the focus to what they have learnt rather than what they are struggling with. Provide opportunities for the class to share what they have learnt both at school and home.
Create comfort in returning to school
After being in lockdown, pupils may need support with building up their friendships again and learning how to interact considerately towards others. Unfortunately, as social distancing and handwashing measures are likely to still be in place for some time, these instances could provide fuel for bullying around potential ‘contagion' name-calling. Indeed, pupils from Asian backgrounds may well experience racism and bullying about the potential origin of the virus in China. So, teachers once again need to be the main role model in creating relationships of acceptance and kindness as children work face to face again.
As a teacher, ensure that you are regularly working with parents to provide tailored social support for their child. Also, plan for opportunities to build relationships again, both inside and outside the class, in lessons and break times, and during transition moments throughout the day. Monitor these, and then see if there are any particular activities that work well to bring the class together and can be replicated by the children when you are not with them. Equally, although you may consider your children too old for play approaches to learning, injecting play with toys, and other objects, in lessons and free time can provide comfort relief for many of your students.
To incorporate even more comfort into the day for your pupils, it is important to restart the old routines of school life and so make the classroom feel familiar and more secure with daily certainties. Furthermore, many practitioners are now promoting the need to not focus on ‘catching up' with learning, but to encourage the children to settle back in and explore.
Manage emotions and anxiety
Unfortunately, some children will have relatives or friends who have died during the pandemic, or be aware of someone close being seriously ill or hospitalised. Others may have experienced more loss with parents losing their jobs and homes or experiencing long-term separation from important family figures. As a result, returning to class may reveal their grief and worries, and this can be reflected through all sorts of emotions, from anger, to aggression, to withdrawn silence. So how can school staff support children in managing and expressing these emotions in a safe way?
- Remind your pupils of their strengths and create opportunities for setting and achieving personal goals.
- Reflect together on the past and the future, but put the emphasis on what we have learnt and what we are looking forward to doing next.
- Read up on bereavement and grief. Young Minds have a piece which addresses loss and grief specifically from a young person's perspective, and Cruse Bereavement Care have a range of resources for schools that may be helpful for supporting pupils who have been bereaved.
- Use schemes that calm the brain, such as Emotion Coaching, to help the children build up their emotional resilience and awareness.
- Provide creative activities and breakout sessions in art, play, nature, drama and music to enable children to express their emotions in their own way.
- Encourage students to write down or draw their anxieties which can then be put away in a special box and discussed later if the child wants, or they can be ripped up and thrown away to relieve stress.
- Discuss what anxiety really is and explain it in terms of the body's reaction to a situation.
- Provide books on feelings, offer visual supports, make social stories or bring in comfort toys that children can use to understand, talk about or show how they are feeling from day to day.
- Coordinate a key adult with pastoral support responsibilities for regular emotion check-ins.
If you feel however, that anxious students feel unable to speak to you, make sure they know who else they can talk to in school and remind them that they can talk to Childline about any worries or problems they might be having. Also, you may want to make sure that you have up-to-date contact information for local child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), and check whether referral processes have changed to support your pupils further.
Stay flexible and adaptable
Staying flexible and adaptable is important both when teaching the children in a class, and working with the teaching staff. Ultimately, children and staff will be going through many of the same worries and range of emotions within school, and so being easy-going when teaching or liaising will be essential for an effective transition.
To improve adaptability, work out what helps you and your children to feel calm, and use this strategy whenever needed. Also, give yourself time to acclimatise to the changes taking place and replicate this attitude when working with the students again. On top of this, allow yourself to reflect and communicate with others at your own speed, and give your students the chance to do the same. With these calming techniques in mind, you will find that teachers and children can be flexible towards each other, and any problems that arise will feel less stressful.
Teachers may also find it helpful to be aware of, and to predict, what sticking points might cause issues within the classroom. If they can pre-plan then it will not come as such a big shock when they suddenly have to adapt and change their day. Example triggers might be separation anxiety, fear of being in a space with so many children, having to transition throughout the day with break times and new lessons, needing regular breaks from formal learning, and requiring extra praise and motivation to keep going.
Support for parents
Most parents will of course been at home with their children throughout the pandemic, and some may have many worries about the return to school. As much as possible, teachers and other school staff should be on hand to answer the queries and concerns that parents have, and put aside time to reassure them. Teachers may find that some parents have brilliant ideas about how to deal with the transition, and will be able to share practical information that helped their particular child during the lockdown which can then be replicated in class. To prepare, here are some concerns that parents might share with teachers:
- Worries about the enduring emotional impact of the pandemic, including job loss and bereavement.
- Whether their child will be able to settle back into class.
- Worries about child safety, particularly if they have any existing health conditions.
- Fears about their child losing progress and not being able to catch up.
- Struggles with re-establishing friendships and relationships.
If responses and resources for these issues can be pre-planned, then a much smoother transition for parents, their children and the teaching staff will follow.
Each school has its own individual identity and as a result all of their transition strategies and plans should be unique to their staff and school community too. Although not exhaustive, we hope the points discussed will be useful as we experience the new normal, and provide some hope for all who are going back to school.
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