everything curriculum | July 2022


day it felt like we were stumbling across new and unexpected fallouts from the pandemic.


In EYFS, we noticed that many children were struggling to make friends. Socialising with peers was something these children only had limited access to. Therefore, most of the Autumn term was dedicated to ensuring this important skill was modelled and embedded for our very youngest pupils.


Further up the school in KS1 and LKS2, we saw significant academic gaps, specifically in writing. As the leader of literacy in school, I had worked hard with all teachers, to ensure reading and writing were high on our agenda when planning lockdown work. However, regardless of the quality of planning, being unable to offer direct in-person teaching and feedback had greatly affected spelling, handwriting and most considerably, stamina. The fundamentals of writing had suffered, and this was a trend noticed in schools across the country.


It was in UKS2 that we found lots of support was needed regarding mental health and wellbeing. We take our eldest pupils – years five and six, on a residential each December and noticed that the majority of pupils were worried about leaving home and struggled while we were there, especially at night. It seemed that all the time at home during lockdown without opportunities for sleepovers etc had impacted these children. They were genuinely anxious to be away from


the comforts of home and although they all had a brilliant time when busy through the day, the night times were difficult and their ability to push themselves out of their comfort zones was unlike anything we had seen in previous years.


Parental relationships with the school have also taken quite a staggering hit. For the past two years, we have been unable to invite our parents and carers into school to watch assemblies, visit classes, or even enjoy Sports Day. This lack of face-to-face contact has caused visible cracks in the home-school relationship. Parents are less engaged in online meetings and parent’s evenings – they are more sensitive to issues that arise in school, and we have found an increase in minor complaints and queries. The trust between school and home seems to have widened and we know as a leadership team, that this fundamental relationship needs mending before we can ever get back to a semblance of normality.


So, as businesses and workplaces around the country seem to settle into this new post-covid world, spare a thought for your schools. We are still juggling the aftereffects of home learning, bereavement, and the huge mental strain this has put upon our future generation. Our roles as educators have always come with many hats to wear, but now more than ever our primary role as teachers of knowledge has taken a backseat while we navigate this new and precarious future.


11


We are still juggling the aftereffects of home learning, bereavement, and the huge mental strain this has put upon our future generation.


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