There has been much speculation about the reopening of schools. At the time of writing, we are eagerly anticipating a signal from Government that we can begin the process of
In the first instance, schools are likely to reopen with similar measures in place as were in force during the Autumn term – year group bubbles, social distancing, face coverings in corridors and communal areas, regular cleaning routines and so on – supplemented by the new practice of lateral flow tests that have already been rolled out for the staff and the children of critical workers who have been in school this term. Importantly, the reopening of schools gives a message of hope to all, a symbolic step forwards that we will one day fully emerge from this darkest of times. While the prospect of a wider school reopening may give rise to nervousness about the possibility of increased transmission in some areas of the community, a wellmanaged return to school is very much in the best interests of children, families, and society. At the RGS we have been fortunate in the quality of the remote learning that we have been able to deliver with regular human interaction through live lessons using Microsoft Teams and a balance of online activity and offscreen tasks. We have just written reports for all our pupils in Year 7 and Year 12 – both year groups that have made a significant transition this year. Having read the reflections that our pupils have written alongside their reports it is clear that nearly all have embraced online learning and quite a number comment that they have even been able to get even more work done without the distractions of people around them. They have been developing their organisational and independent learning skills in ways that may continue to benefit them long after lockdown. Added to this, those who normally have to travel some distance into school have also noticed the benefit of being able to wake up later and get more sleep, which has to be a good thing for young people. All of the above is about making the best of the situation, but young people fundamentally need to be around others; peers, teachers, and role models. However good the online experience, it cannot replace the positive dynamic of day to day interaction between human beings. Even just a passing conversation in the corridor can help lift someone’s mood and, by being around people, in school even the most reticent teenager learns social skills that they will need as they grow into young adults and pursue careers. Children also benefit from structure and routine in their lives that gives them the security and confidence to grow into happy and healthy young people. Those who have had the prospect of public exams and other such rites of passage being cancelled may be feeling particularly anxious about the future. Different children will react uniquely to the current situation but it is true to say that they will have all been profoundly impacted by the experience of the past 12 months. It is difficult to predict the full extent of the impact but the social isolation that young people have experienced in their formative years is likely to have increased the potential for our young people to experience mental health issues significantly going forwards. Children can be surprisingly resilient but how can we support them in the coming months to reduce the long-term impact? In the first place we need to get pupils back into school as simply being around other human beings will make a difference. The co-curricular life of school is going to be just as important in supporting our children, as what goes on in the classroom. Our children need to have the opportunity to be social, to play, perhaps to kick a ball around together, sing in a choir or take part in clubs and activities that interest them. Alongside this, the pastoral safety net also needs to be strong so that pupils feel they are in a safe space where they are properly supported by people who care about them. We already have a strong pastoral provision but as a school we have been consciously providing additional training to all our teachers in identifying and supporting pupils with mental health issues and we are proactively increasing the capacity of our counselling provision in school so that we can be prepared to help where needed. Many of us as parents may also be facing our own challenges, whether caused by relationship issues, worries about job security, fears for the health of loved ones and so on. A lot of parents are likely to have been under pressure from supervising home schooling, often when also trying to work from home and perhaps with limited devices in the house and wifi capacity issues so children returning to school cannot come soon enough. Everyone’s circumstances will be different but, whatever we are experiencing, we can all do our best to provide security and comfort to our children. We need to make sure that we are doing our best to look after our own mental health so that we ourselves can act as role models to our children in accepting uncertainty and showing resilience in the face of adversity. It may sound obvious but, if we as parents can do this, we can have a really positive impact in supporting how our young people can thrive not only while this pandemic lasts but long into the future.