Morning Wars

Every morning I sit and eat breakfast on our balcony as the sun comes up. Our balcony happens to look out over both a local Singaporean school and an international school. From before the sun comes up, I watch the queue of cars start to form down the road as more parents pull up to drop their children off. I see students slowly emerge, bleary eyed, from the train station, hopping off from arriving buses, whizzing past on their scooters, trudging along the pavement with heavy bags slung over their shoulders and the odd student frantically running towards the school who is late for an early morning sports practice.

At the same time, between mouthfuls of cornflakes, I am often checking my phone to read emails that have appeared in my inbox overnight. At that time of day emails start to arrive from teachers who are sick and need cover. I think of them as they are groggily hunched over their laptops trying to set lesson plans for the day for their classes. I think of the poor person in charge of making sure all the lessons are covered. I think of the teachers who have arrived early at school to run a sports practice, arrange their classroom for the day or to get a head-start on an event or excursion that is happening. I think of the leaders who are planning meetings or are rehearsing difficult conversations that lie ahead that day...

As the beginning of school draws near, homes empty of children and classrooms fill with students. As the first bell sounds, the pre-school coordination of families and teachers comes to an end and school swings into action.

For many families the scramble to get their children to school can be a difficult challenge that they face daily. Their child may be feeling anxious about school due to friendship issues, bullying, upcoming assessments, or a presentation they must give. Many parents go through the daily ritual of encouraging, persuading, counselling, cajoling and sometimes pleading with their child to go. Mostly this will work, but sometimes it does not. Getting a reluctant child to school can be stressful for families and a daily source of conflict within a household. As homegroup teachers and leaders, we should be knowledgeable about the children in our care and mindful of what it may have taken for them to get to school on any given day. The homegroup time at the start of the school day should be a place where a child can find belonging, care and welcoming at the start of the day.

Likewise for teachers, many of whom have their own families, it can be a real challenge to be ready for the day. Schools are busy places with teachers preparing lessons, marking assessments, writing reports, developing curriculum, dealing with student issues, dealing with school issues, planning events and reporting concerns…. and sometimes having all those plans thrown up in the air through an unforeseen incident or urgent issue that demands their time. Being ready for the day and finding that positive mindset for the students or staff in your care can be tiring and takes both physical and emotional energy. To help with this challenge teachers can seek to develop routines, approaches and self-care practices that best help them.

Students, parents and teachers are participants in this collective daily journey towards the start of school. In the midst of this morning rush, it's essential to recognise that we are all in this together, and that understanding, empathy and care go a long way to support anxious students, stressed parents and over-stretched teachers.

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