5 things teachers can do RIGHT NOW to help children enjoy school again

We know going back to school after lockdown is a tricky affair for many children (and adults!) – some of them will be chomping at the bit, some will find it hard to readapt to a rigid routine that doesn’t include endless hours on screen (parents, we didn’t have much choice, don’t beat yourself up about it), some will have developed social anxiety. At best, it’s going to be weird. But we can get there.

The worry is if we pretend that everything is back to normal: ‘chop chop, we have loads of ‘lost’ learning to catch up on, now let’s all focus and get through all the curriculum learning outcomes we’re supposed to have covered this year!’. I can guarantee that this is not going to work. We are all shattered by a year of constantly changing goalposts, fears, worries, loss and simply too many constraints and not enough joy and freedom. 

Schools need to become again a safe welcoming and – dare I say it – a FUN place for children to go. And it’s a win-win option. Because a child who feels safe and engaged and stimulated will be more receptive. Do you remember the best kindergarten in the world in Japan? These children, given a chance to run around to their hearts content are healthier, happier and lo and behold, even LEARN better.

Many UK education experts (remember those?) under the name Playfirst are advocating for a summer of play to allow essential recovery time. Yet we hear that Gavin Williamson, soon becoming a right son of a Gove, is looking at longer days and shorter holidays instead. While this is never going to happen – I can imagine the usually pretty docile British public going French revolution style on that one – the question is, what can we do to support better wellbeing, mental health and learning, despite the ongoing Covid restrictions and without waiting for Gav to catch up? Here are a few ideas that don’t cost a penny, that teachers can implement right now, and will go a long way to help everyone transition back to a post covid world.

1.    Teachers, take care of yourselves

Mindset makes a huge difference. Prioritise your mental health. Give yourself 20 mins wellbeing every day and do something nice for yourself. Have a nap. Play an instrument. Bake a cake. Do yoga with Adriene. Go smell the roses. Call a friend. Even better: give yourself permission to do nothing at all. Stress is contagious. Relax. That’s equally catching. If you’re ok, you will be able to deal with everything better. The government will keep on throwing ridiculous demands your way, but one day at a time. That’s all you can do. Breathe.

2.    lots of sanity breaks

There is a tendency for every minute of every school day to be accounted for. This is too much. No one can we expected to focus for hours at a time, especially kids. It’s proven to be counter-productive. Observe when kids start to fidget, chat, look out the window. It’s probably time for a break. It could be anything from literally stopping for a few seconds, tell a joke, a fun story to recapture their attention, or maybe it’s a movement break. Office workers are told to stop looking at their screen every 20-30 mins. Why not kids?

Moving between classrooms in secondary school is one way to provide much short bursts of freedom, but even that freedom has melted away. All important social interaction is reduced. One of the main reasons for wanting to go to school is to be with friends. So why not provide lots of mini breaks and freedom between lessons? A lot of teachers will do this naturally, but what if this was school policy? No guilt, just sanity breaks for refreshed brain action.

3. Give the curriculum a break

Children are natural learners, and they do so avidly – when they care. Some schools introduced wellbeing days during lockdown – keep them going. One day a month of curriculum free time will mean much to the children and won’t impact their learning negatively. Go further and give them half an hour daily, where they can be free to do something without a learning outcome attached to it. Give the fronted adverbials a break. Fractals can wait. Turn off Oak Academy. Ask them what they want to learn about. Let them lead their own learning.

4. Put your feet up

Over the next term, get a project under way. It could be super simple, like creating decorations for their classroom (again not necessarily with a pedagogical aim), it could be a video project, a play. A Little Inventors project! I hear you, all of this can be a LOT of work! How about letting the kids self-direct? Let them choose what they want to do, about what they want, within rules. Let them do the hard work. My bet is they will take huge pride in creating something themselves. Relight their fire and give them a sense of worth. It doesn’t matter what it looks like at the end. It’s theirs. Thanks to you.

5. Learn from them

Small children often do show and tell at school. But that soon disappears. Once a week, open an hour-long forum and talk to them about what they love. Let them teach you something, show them that their world and their voice matter. After all, we all want to be heard. Silly, serious, far-fetched, anxious, it’s all there for the taking. Give them space, time and an ear, and you will get so much more from them.

I know a lot of you will read the above and say ‘but I already do most of that!’, and you know what? You are wonderful. You know what the children need. You’ve got them. But I’m thinking here of all the school staff that are so pressured, so scared to fail, so out of energy, desperate to do everything in their power to hold it together on shoe-string budgets and equipment. Ultimately all of the above could be summed up easily: children know how to learn, instinctively. Everyone needs a break right now. It’s the healthy thing to do. Give children the chance to show you what they can do. For once, lowering the standards could be the best thing that happens to them. And to you.

Katherine Mengardon is a Play and creativity Education writer and strategist and the author of three Little Inventors books published by HarperCollins.