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Tag: Play

School Return and Balancing Acts

Posted on by Andrew McAteer

 

Today a phased return to school begins for some children.   While most weary parents, passionate teachers and isolated pupils agree that a full return is needed for all pupils, there are concerns about timing and the practicalities that schools and parents will now face.

Much of the media discussion has surrounded whether or not children are ‘super-spreaders’. A PHA presentation to education officials suggested that Schools are not a ‘major source’ of transmission. It is vital, however, that this discussion is counterbalanced by consideration of the negative impact of long-term school closures and the subsequent isolation of our children and young people. The negative impact of lockdown on their mental health and wellbeing is becoming clear in research from previous school closures, in practice, in our own experiences and in our conversations with family and friends. This impact is exacerbated by the closure of their other face-to-face social networks outside of school- such as sports clubs, youth clubs and societies.

As a trustee of Links Counselling Service I (John) am acutely of the mental health impact of lockdown throughout society. With many community resources unavailable, we are overwhelmed with self-referrals, GP referrals and signposting from other services. Our waiting list, including children aged 4-18, has more than doubled from a year ago despite a larger workforce that ever before. COVID-19 has not only exacerbated pre-existing mental ill health among individuals, families and communities, it has greatly challenged the systems in place to care for them.

Another balancing act

Balance is also needed is within the public (and media) discourse about children’s mental health. While there is clearly cause for concern, we need to avoid fatalism when it comes to our children. This is not the ‘COVID generation’ forever damaged by a ‘tsumani’ of mental health problems, as some of the more dramatic headlines would have you believe. Recent research from the University of Oxford, reported an increase in emotional, attentional and behavioural issues during the first lockdown period. Reassuringly, these issues decreased when lockdown was lifted, but with increased restrictions these issues have re-emerged. This places an emphasis on decision makers to ensure that lockdown restrictions that impact on children and young people are kept as short-term as possible.

However, a deterministic and fatalistic discourse can be counter-productive, cultivating a self-fulfilling prophecy that paralyses systems and prevents them from fully committing to the support that is needed to recover. Our children are so much more than the pandemic they have lived through. They have demonstrated creativity, kindness and resilience. It’s important to remain hopeful and to help our young people to find hope when they are worried about the future. It is the balancing act of our time to hold both of these realities together; that many people are struggling, and that things can get better.

Resilience Resides in Relationships

We often hear it said that ‘children are resilient’, but the truth is a little more nuanced. Psychologists define resilience as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity or significant sources of stress. Resilience means ‘bouncing back’ from difficult experiences, but it also means being empowered to grow and even improve your life along the way. Research has moved away from seeing resilience as a trait that people do or don’t have. There are various individual psychosocial factors that impact resilience levels, but there is also emerging evidence of a bidirectional relationship between healthy communities and more resilient individuals. This is important. It means resilience can be promoted and developed, and schools can play a role in this.

The majority of kids won’t need counselling post-lockdown. They will benefit from getting back to the structured, stable and secure environment of school. The predictable routine, clear expectations and consistent rules help children to feel safe. Then, most importantly, they will need space to play and to reconnect with others. Research also emphasises the important link between children engaging in sport and physical activity and their wellbeing. We need to see a return to these activities too.

Psychiatrist Bruce Perry states that, because humans are inescapably social beings, the worst catastrophes that we can experience are those that involve relational loss. Therefore, recovery must involve re-establishing human connections.Perry states that the most important healing experiences often occur outside therapy and inside homes, schools and communities. Before ‘catching up’ on missed learning we need to let the kids catch up with each other, and with staff. Resilience resides in relationships.

Through relationships we can reassure children that they are experiencing normal reactions to abnormal events. We can help them, as the Dr Marie Hill has outlined, to emotionally regulate before we educate. Prof Barry Carpenter and colleagues have developed practical resources for a Recovery Curriculum that encourages a systematic, relationships-based approach to teaching and learning post-lockdown. This is an example of the creative and systemic approach required to support our children and young people.

That said, every child and young person will come through this differently and there will be a range of responses needed. While all might need something extra, some will need more ‘extra’ than others. Lockdown has exacerbated disadvantage and pre-existing vulnerability. Some young people will need additional systemic and therapeutic support to prevent more severe mental ill health down the line. It’s vital that long-term planning includes improving availability and accessibility of this support.

Ultimately, we need to trust our teachers and school leaders to know how to best support our children post-lockdown. We need to embrace their professional capacity, support the system where we can, and lobby to ensure that they are properly resourced. It is essential that we prioritise children and young people as we emerge from this pandemic. They have been asked to make huge sacrifices and it is now time that we uphold their rights for equitable access to education, play and social development.

Dr John McMullen is an Educational and Child Psychologist, and a Senior Lecturer at Stranmillis University College and Queen’s University Belfast.

Dr Victoria Simms is the Director of Research in the School of Psychology, Ulster University, and is an expert in child development.

Back to School: Learning Together after Lockdown

Posted on by Andrew McAteer

The sentiment of the popular inspirational acronym ‘Together Everyone Achieves More’ seems so simple that it could easily be dismissed as a platitude. Yet our current circumstances have brought the value of human togetherness into sharp focus. Our language reflects this too:  the English word ‘teams’ has taken on a new dimension, now often referring to images of solitary figures in rooms contained in little boxes on a screen. Until the onset of Covid-19, sharing actual physical spaces with people outside our own homes was an accepted part of daily life. Our places of learning – nurseries, schools, colleges and universities – were particularly social in this respect. Almost without thinking about it, we shared classrooms and lecture theatres, assembly halls and staffrooms. The arrival of the pandemic disrupted this, and possibilities to spend time in common social spaces with family, friends, colleagues and students remain very limited. It has been said that it is not until we lose something that we realise how good it was. So what exactly have we been missing?

Body matters

Rowan Williams in his book Being Human: Bodies, minds, persons, argues that ‘Persons are more than ‘individuals’; they are both spiritual and material, and their uniqueness is fulfilled in community not in isolation and total independence’ (p. viii). Our bodies matter, as well as our minds: we are sensory. In a recent interview for the Irish Times, Irish philosopher Richard Kearney described the Covid-19 pandemic as an ‘attack on the senses’. This is of course true in a very real way for those who have experienced the loss of taste and smell as a symptom of the Covid-19 virus. But it is also true that the pandemic has accelerated the shift from being together physically with other people to communicating virtually. This change had already been ushered in by the digital revolution. There are multiple examples of technology enhancing many aspects of our lives in recent years, not least in education. Schools in Northern Ireland have harnessed the benefits of digital innovation in a particularly admirable way. Interestingly though, Kearney argues that over the past year the speed of the shift has prioritised, and perhaps overloaded, our sense of sight, while at the same time inhibiting our sense of touch. This imbalance is a matter of concern. As Kearney puts it ‘It is no accident that skin is our largest organ … We need computers but we also need carnality.’

Hands on learning

In Kearney’s view, tangibility, or being close enough physically to touch another person or thing renders us vulnerable as human beings, but it also makes us more receptive to other people and our wider environment. This is particularly important in the learning of young children in play as Glenda Walsh and John McMullen have highlighted. We know all too well that touch can cause injury and harm, but over centuries, touch has also been a source of healing. It is by reaching out and engaging with other people and our surroundings at close quarters that we learn, that we learn to communicate, and that we develop empathy. By being close to people we can begin to read them, rather like a book. This is an important aspect of our being, and it is needed for us to flourish.

Mind matters too

Human beings, according to Rowan Williams, are both spiritual and material. Similarly, health is not simply either mental or physical, but embraces the whole person. There are real and valid concerns around physical contamination by a potentially dangerous virus, and these require a concerted response. But they need to be balanced by concerns for health more broadly, and particularly by an awareness of mental health. In a recent blog Noel Purdy highlighted the need to promote emotional health and wellbeing among young people especially. As lockdowns continue across the globe, concern for mental health generally is growing. For example, according to a recent study reported in the Lancet, ‘the increase in probable mental health problems reported in adults also affected 5–16 year olds in England, with the incidence rising from 10·8% in 2017 to 16·0% in July 2020 across age, gender, and ethnic groups’.

The focus of governments has turned in recent weeks to children and young people going back to school. There has been talk of lost months and years of education, identifying learning gaps, catch-up plans and reducing school holidays. In the middle of all this we shouldn’t lose sight of what it is to be human. For according to Rowan Williams, ‘Unless we have a coherent model of what sort of humanity we want to nurture in our society, we shall continue to be at sea over how we teach’ (p. x).

 

On being human … together

Absence might make the heart grow fonder, but spending time with each other in a shared physical space is a vital part of healthy human development and relationships. Not being together has made lockdown periods very difficult for many people,  and young people in particular have found that being apart makes friendships very difficult. Research has also shown that face to face social interaction results in better learning. For example, in language acquisition, Patricia Kuhl’s 2003 early childhood study found that ‘infants show phonetic learning from live, but not pre-recorded, exposure to a foreign language’. Teachers need to spend time face to face with their students. To create learning opportunities that are really valuable we need to get to know peoples’ needs and preferences. And we need to spend time together, talking and listening.

From Zoom to room

There is something of a sense of déjà vu (see last year’s blog) as yet again, we face the prospect of going back to school. The challenges involved in moving from Zoom to room are real. But so are the potential rewards: physical, mental and spiritual. People of all ages are trying to make sense of our world’s complexities and of strangeness of the days and nights that we have known. For this reason, many believe that as far as education is concerned, a playful, nurturing approach will be vital for children and young people, with language and communication, one of its 6 core principles, at its heart. In Northern Ireland it is encouraging to see signs of a commitment by government to this, with funding allocated to a new Nurture Programme.

Experiences of pandemic lockdown have gifted us with a greater awareness of the benefits of technology to keep us connected digitally. But we have also come to understand, perhaps more fully than at any point in history, that isolation from each other physically is unhealthy. Perhaps what we need most is getting back to exactly what we have been missing: being together.

Dr Sharon Jones is a Stranmillis University College Lecturer and member of the Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement

 

Prioritising Play when Schools Reopen

Posted on by Andrew McAteer

In this blog John McMullen reflects on his lockdown experiences as a parent and his hopes for playful learning as schools re-open, making links to relevant research. Glenda Walsh concludes with some practical ideas for how we can prioritise and promote play post-lockdown.

Dr John McMullen is an Educational and Child Psychologist, and Senior Lecturer at Stranmillis University College.

Dr Glenda Walsh is Assistant Director of CREU, Head of Early Years Education and Principal Lecturer at Stranmillis University College.

The last CREU blog considered the positive experiences of some children and families during lockdown. Whilst not negating the severe challenges for many, this was a welcome, hopeful piece. When asked about hope in a recent podcast, the words of Howard Zinn came to mind: ‘If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places – and there are so many – where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.’

I’ve been inspired by the creativity, support and fun emanating from many teachers, parents and carers during lockdown. Much of this innovation would not have occurred without the adversity of a pandemic, and the most hopeful aspects appear to centre around play. Children have spent more time playing, and the adults appear to have become more playful too, including dads! During lockdown fathers have nearly doubled the time they spend on childcare. While it’s still less than mothers do overall, this is important. Recent research tells us that father-infant play, often in the form of physical play such as rough and tumble, is linked to positive social, emotional and cognitive outcomes.

Playing with my daughter has been the sunshine through the grey clouds of COVID-19. The closing of childcare put pressure on work life but provided, and necessitated, more play in family life. We’ve enjoyed camping trips, lighting fires, Lego, building rockets, exploring woods and rivers, eating fruit that we grew, and catching bugs. Caring for children can be demanding, but when we allow ourselves to see the world through a child’s eyes, in their adventure and their wonder, playfulness can benefit our well-being as much as theirs. As schools start back it feels like it has never been more important to prioritise play.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; We grow old because we stop playing.”

George Bernard Shaw

The Importance of Play

Regardless of a child’s situation, learning through play is crucial for development. Playing helps children to be happy and healthy in their lives today, but also to develop the skills to be the creative, engaged learners of tomorrow. Play experiences can support the development of early literacy and numeracy skills in an integrated manner, while also cultivating children’s social, emotional, physical, and creative skills. Through play children also develop executive functioning, language, and a sense of agency, which are pre-requisites for success in school.

Learning through play is sometimes associated solely with preschool and viewed as purely child-directed and unstructured. However there is a growing evidence base for the importance of playful experiences throughout school and in life-long learning. Pedagogical approaches including active learning, collaborative and cooperative learning, problem-solving and project work are highly relevant to learning through play beyond the early years of schooling. Play may be important in helping children of all ages to move beyond the learning of key content and facts, to a deeper conceptual understanding that allows them to apply their knowledge to different situations, spark new ideas, step into uncertainty, create opportunities for themselves and their communities, and learn throughout life.

The Problem with Play

Despite near universal consensus on the importance of play, research has identified obstacles in practice such as appropriate provision, adults’ roles, parental expectations, top-down pressures, and a perceived dichotomy between play and work. Where teachers do not have confidence and competence in translating quality playful approaches into practice, it follows that not all children will have access to play, let alone good quality play, in their educational setting. This situation could potentially worsen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as teachers are asked to prioritise ‘catching up’ on academic learning.

We caution against a dichotomous mindset. We argue for a more expansive understanding of play as learning in practice, where all aspects of children’s learning – personal, social, and academic can be fully enhanced and where playing, learning and teaching become fully synchronised. Perhaps if we see play as ‘the highest form of research’ as Einstein (may have) stated, it will embolden the community around each child to provide consistent, high quality, playful learning experiences.

The Impact of COVID-19

Not all children will have enjoyed playful experiences during lockdown. Almost all will have spent less time playing with children outside of their own family, i.e. their peer group. We do not know the long-term impact, if any, that widespread social isolation will have on their wellbeing.  However, some insight is offered by a recent rapid systematic review of 80 studies, published from 1946-2020, of the impact of social isolation and loneliness on the mental health of children and adolescents. This suggested that social isolation and loneliness increase the risk of depression and anxiety in children, and that duration of loneliness was more strongly correlated with mental health symptoms than intensity of loneliness. The authors concluded that there is likely to be high rates of depression and probably anxiety during and after social isolation ends. As a response, a number of mental health experts have urged the government to prioritise children’s play, socialising and emotional wellbeing over formal lessons and academic progress when schools reopen. This was supported and emphasised in the Department of Education NI guidance sent to all schools in June 2020.

How to Prioritise and Promote Play Post-Lockdown

The Lego Foundation have identified five essential characteristics of playful learning, namely joy, meaning, active engagement, social interaction, and iteration. Practical suggestions for facilitating these rich playful learning experiences were highlighted in a previous blog. For example, through child in playful bubbles wearing the same coloured wrist band, discouraging as far as possible children interacting in bubbles beyond that of their own in an effort to maintain a form of social distancing between groups. In addition, instead of making use of commercial play resources which may require deep cleaning on a daily basis, the time is ripe to make greater use of junk play materials such as cardboard boxes, rope, string, polystyrene, plastic bottles, and containers to name but a few, and an array of natural resources including bark, seeds, sand, mud, stones, pebbles, leaves, twigs and straw, all of which can be easily replaced on a daily basis. Indeed, as the risk of infection from Covid-19 is less prevalent in the outdoors, according to the scientific evidence, it seems only fitting to make greater use of the outdoors and in so doing provide a range of playful experience that are filled with many possibilities and adventure. Outdoors, children can engage in a variety of playful experiences in their bubble, whether it be building dens, climbing trees, exploring wildlife, gardening, playing in mud kitchens, engaging in STEM activities with water and sand, undertaking a range of physical exercises or simply having fun with their peers.

At present we are only too aware that further lockdowns might be re-introduced and if this happens to be the case, it’s vital that a playful pedagogy continues. Dr. Bo Stjerne Thomsen provides some useful ideas from a school in Denmark for transitioning to distance learning using playful pedagogies. In recent months during the lockdown experience in Northern Ireland it has similarly been encouraging to see the excellent response of the Education sector in advocating a playful approach to teaching and learning in the home (e.g. https://www.stran.ac.uk/ideas-for-active-minds/).

Perhaps the way forward lies in extending these home-learning ideas practised during lockdown, by introducing a somewhat playful approach to homework tasks. As parents, we know only too well the challenge it is to get young children to complete sedentary worksheets at home, already tired after a long school day and by so doing, frequently denying them that precious time to engage in more play-based activities at home and outside. As schools begin to re-open after lockdown, we suggest that not only is it a priority to foster a playful approach to teaching and learning in our classrooms but a more playful approach might also be infused into homework tasks in general.

“Play with me Daddy!”

My 3-year-old doesn’t know it yet, but this is an invitation to join her, not only in fun and adventure, but in the highest form of research; in her wonder and questioning; in her cognitive, social, emotional and physical development; and in building life skills she will need now and after this pandemic. What a privilege for parents and teachers alike.

 

Life after Lockdown in the Early Years Classroom: Embracing Challenges as Opportunities!

Posted on by Andrew McAteer

Dr Glenda Walsh (Head of Early Years Education, Stranmillis University College) and Mrs Stephanie Gillespie (Nursery School Principal and Early Years Specialist)

Preparations are underway in Northern Ireland for the reopening of all schools in September 2020, after a long period of lockdown, having been closed to the majority of pupils since mid-March. Clearly, navigating the challenges brought to the Education sector by a global pandemic invites decision-makers to do more than simply tinkering cautiously with pre-lockdown policies and practices. For the youngest children in our school settings, there are principles of early years pedagogy that endure, and we advocate for all that we know to be fundamental to the high quality and playful experience that is the right of every young learner. In this blog, we intend to address some of the obstacles specifically facing the early years phase of education and to offer potential solutions to ensure that the needs and interests of our young children are fully embraced. Major seminal studies (e.g. Heckman et al, 2010 and Schweinhart et al, 2005) have clearly showcased time after time the importance of getting it right in the early years of schooling, not only for children’s learning and development, but also for society and the economy as a whole. Let’s ensure that as the restart to school begins, we don’t let our youngest children down!

The post is structured using the framework of priorities outlined recently by the Minister of Education in the proposed Restart programme.

Physical Protection in the Early Years

A key priority is Physical Protection to ‘support, protect and enable our workforce as they lead the return to “new normal” education arrangements – protecting learners also.’ Evidence coming from the Danish model of schools’ re-opening shows that risk can be managed through a variety of measures. In some Danish early years settings this has meant adjusting class size to ‘bubbles’ of no more than 10. This is more straightforward in Denmark as the average class size at primary is 19 pupils, whereas the average Foundation Stage class size in NI is over 25. Cognisance needs to be taken of this difference and flexibility given as settings seek to put adequate measures in place for individual contexts. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach will not do. However, as we explore the issue of bubbles within our early years classrooms/settings, perhaps it is time to relish the opportunity of reduced class sizes and enhanced adult teacher-child ratios, something that we in the early years sector in Northern Ireland and the UK in general have been calling for over a long period of time.

Indeed a recent Guardian article referring to the Danish experience of re-opening schools reported that smaller groups bring a higher degree of wellbeing for pupils, and give the teachers more contact with them during the day. Whether we need to make use of a volunteer workforce as was the case in the NHS or embrace a blended learning approach to facilitate such a reduction in class numbers, let’s be creative in resolving this dilemma to allow our teachers to build those warm and secure relationships that are so paramount in an early years classroom, tune into all young children’s needs and interests and afford them learning opportunities that allow them to reach their full potential.

Outdoor learning is safer, and supports young children’s development

Maintaining a distance of up to 2m has become the new norm in many settings that have re-opened internationally and more recently in England. Images of desks spaced out in our classrooms, with painted markings on the floors, have flashed across our TV screens and the immediate response of those who know and work with our youngest children is that such measures will never be a complete success in an early years classroom. But how else do we keep our youngest children and their teachers safe? The answer lies in extending the early years classroom beyond its four walls and embracing the natural outdoors, as scientific advice has indicated that the spread of such a disease is less prevalent outside. Our Scandinavian colleagues have clearly showcased the potential of the outdoors, not only in terms of the available space to enable a degree of distancing to take place, but to zone off particular areas and through the use of, for instance, coloured arm bands, encourage children to play with these same children on a daily basis without being in contact with any other class peers. In this way, we would recommend the bubble idea being practised not only indoors but also in the outdoors. In addition, according to the Open University’s OPEN space Research Centre, there is a wealth of evidence emphasising that time spent outdoors increases life expectancy, improves well-being, reduces symptoms of depression and increases a child’s ability to function in school. Time spent in the outdoors is surely needed now more than ever where children can engage in a variety of playful experiences in their bubble, whether it be building dens, exploring wildlife and gardening, playing in the mud kitchen, engaging in simple scientific experiments with water or undertaking a range of physical exercises. Making effective use of the outdoors is therefore no longer a choice for our early years teachers/practitioners; it is an essential.

Hygiene and Infection Control Protocols

Adjusted hygiene procedures based on sound risk-assessment will undoubtedly be reassuring for parents and staff alike. Some schools in England have opted for handwashing on arrival at school and at hourly intervals. Nationally and internationally, schools have staggered starting and leaving times. Some staff understandably have expressed their anxieties about being adequately protected and there is discussion about the wearing of masks, visors and gowns. We would urge a risk-benefits approach at this point for our youngest children in Preschool and Foundation Stage. Early years practitioners are very creative and will rise to the challenge of implementing hygiene protocols that are less remote and possibly alarming for our youngest learners. Our young children are continually expressing their deep thinking around issues that adults might feel they alone have concerns about. One 4-year-old recently put on his Spiderman costume and then his hand gel and decided he was “going on a mission to save my friends! The virus is hurting people”. Likewise, many creative teachers have been encouraging young children to practise appropriate hygiene measures through the use of popular songs and rhymes such as Baby Shark, Happy Birthday and the Elbow Dab.

The need to constantly clean resources, in particular play resources, is causing some teachers to suggest that play may have to be abandoned for a period of time. However, the abandonment of play, in such a time of crisis, could only increase the anxieties that many children are already experiencing and result in a much more challenging transition back into school. We fully appreciate that the safety of children and staff is paramount, but making use of open-ended and natural materials in this current climate could act as a possible substitute. We suggest the use of junk materials in the form of cardboard boxes, rope, string, polystyrene, plastic bottles, blocks and containers to name but a few, and an array of natural materials including bark, seeds, mud, stones, pebbles, leaves, twigs and straw, all of which could be put in the bin after any play session and easily replaced for the next one. Early years specialists have been advocating a ‘less is more’ environment in early years settings for many years, where the emphasis on artificial resources is greatly reduced. Embracing such creative possibilities will enable young children to continue to enjoy the power of playful learning in a safe and secure manner.

Play resources are plentiful in the outdoors

Standards of Learning in the Early Years

Even before the Covid-19 outbreak, many in the Early Years community of practice were concerned at the downward pressure of the curriculum particularly for learners in the Foundation Stage, leading to a narrowing of the curriculum and an over-emphasis on core skills. Whilst an effort to provide a catch-up curriculum or to ‘maintain (or re-dress) educational standards’ is certainly needed in our schools, we might ask ourselves if such a ‘re-dress’ is necessary in the early years. Children’s academic learning may not have been progressed in the same way as it might have been at school, but it is important to note that many children have developed an array of skills and dispositions during this period of crisis that may be advantageous to them for future learning and indeed for life in general. A recent report on parents’ experiences of home-schooling, conducted by the Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement at Stranmillis University College, brought to our attention how young children, as compared with their older counterparts, appear to have enjoyed the remote learning experience at home with the support of their teachers and seemed quite motivated by it. Indeed Paul Ramchandani, Professor of Play in the PEDAL Centre at the University of Cambridge, has cautioned against turning homes into schools during the lockdown and instead recommended the power of play for all young learners.

We know that young children flourish with a holistic play-based approach. They especially need to practise skills that can only be facilitated by a rich, unhurried and play-based experiential curriculum. Such a playful learning experience affords opportunities for teachers to tune into the needs and capabilities of all young learners, providing each individual child with the support and/or challenge he/she requires and in so doing enabling a relaxed and pressure-free environment for all young learners as they transition into the school context. The ‘Pedagogy of Play’ research at the Harvard Graduate School of Education is particularly illuminating in terms of cultivating school cultures that value and support learning through play and provide us with much food for thought at this present time. The impetus is there for ‘outside the box’ thinking on how this playful approach might be facilitated in the new norm. Dr. Bo Stjerne Thomsen (Chair of Learning through Play in the LEGO foundation) writes of how the International School in Billund, Denmark transitioned to a distant learning approach using playful pedagogies, in recognition of the fact that children have an amazing natural potential to learn through play. In recent months in Northern Ireland it has similarly been encouraging to see the excellent response of the Education sector in supporting Home Learning through an engaging and creative use of online platforms (e.g. https://www.stran.ac.uk/ideas-for-active-minds/). It will be important for our youngest learners that any blended approach continues to incorporate active and playful methods for our youngest learners rather than a retreat into a more formal and paper-based approach or indeed an over-emphasis on digital learning, the negative impact of which has been clearly articulated in a recent report by Australia’s Gonski Institute for Education.

Well-being

Playful interactions and opportunities may be more essential now than ever. Mental health experts have advocated that play is prioritised rather than diminished when young children return to school due to the possible impact that the lockdown might have had on children’s mental health.

Recent experiences in one Covid cluster hub school in Northern Ireland reveal children’s emotional uncertainty and its impact on their mental health and wellbeing. Certainly, the voice of one 5-year-old highlights the need for social interaction and playful experience:

“I hate this Coronavirus. All I want to do is see my granny and grandpa. Why don’t people just do what they’re told and then all this will be over and I can play with my friends?”

Young children’s voices reveal their deep need for emotional connection, their thinking and possible underlying anxiety: “I miss my friends.

“When is all this Coronavirus going to be over? Where’s the hand sanitiser? You have to use it so you don’t get coronavirus. Will I ever go to nursery to see my friends again?”

In the words of another young child,

“It makes me very sad that I can’t see my friends and my teacher. I really miss the playground – especially the climbing frame.”

We therefore welcome the Minister identifying ‘the mental health and emotional wellbeing of the education workforce and learners as they return to education’ as a focus of the Restart Programme.

The youngest children’s voices remind us of the necessity of prioritising children’s play and social interaction with friends rather than focusing on academic progress. Many parents and teachers will understandably be anxious about academic progression and of course there will be a time to prioritise these areas in future. But as the lockdown restrictions begin to ease and a new normal is introduced into our classrooms, it is important to emphasise a balanced approach and to explicitly highlight the social and emotional benefits of play and socialising with peers for children in Nursery and the Foundation Stage. A risk-benefits approach, which recognises the benefits of play in helping relieve stress and anxiety among the children while simultaneously ensuring children are not exposed to unnecessary risk, is therefore paramount.