Jules

As I write we are finally in December after what has been the most extraordinary year which has impacted us all. Our emotional resilience has been tested, and at times I am sure you have found, as I have, that the reserves and resilience were low. This seems a very good time to reflect on emotional resilience and how we support and build that in children. Emotional resilience is about having the ability to overcome negative circumstances and adversity in your life, handling your emotions and remaining healthy and competent, having coping mechanisms and being able to bounce back to deal with whatever life throws at you. This doesn’t mean that if/when we find it difficult to pick ourselves up we have a lack of emotional resilience, but simply that it has been tested to the point at which coming back takes longer. For children, it is about bouncing back from challenges they may experience in life: from problem solving in their play and using different tools, to moving home, starting school, bereavement, or family break up. The building of resilience helps children deal with the here and now, but also develop skills and habits that will help them deal with challenges throughout their life. Resilience is important for children’s mental health. Children with greater resilience are able to cope better with stress, which is a natural response to difficulties in life. Stress is a risk factor for mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. Some children are more naturally resilient through inherited genes; however, all children need help to build resilience. Children who face more challenges in their lives, such as instability at home, may need more support. Comparatively speaking there is a relatively small amount of research into emotional resilience. However, much of that research has shown the key role families, early years settings, schools and the community play in promoting emotional resilience and positive mental health. To build emotional resilience we need to support and enable children to: · Build relationships with adults and peers · Develop independence and self-help skills · Learn to identify, express and manage their feelings and emotions · Build their confidence through challenge These are known as protective factors which help to support you when you are faced by negative or challenging situations. These protective factors include secure attachments and general good health and development. Attitude and behaviour of parents has been found to be one of the most powerful influences on children’s resilience. The role played by early years settings, in supporting children and parents, is key. So, in what ways can we support the establishment of emotional resilience? · Building and maintaining key carer relationships within the setting, relationships children have with all practitioners and with their peers. Provide that secure base through key attachments which gives a sense of security and enables children to develop. · Role modelling a positive attitude, demonstrating that when things go wrong, we can carry on, that we like challenges and will have a go. They need to see us overcoming difficulties or doing something where we have no idea what will happen, and that it is alright. · Ensuring the environment in the setting is calm, not too loud or overly stimulating, so it is conducive to quiet reflection and engagement. · Providing appropriate challenges for children, enabling them to problem solve and overcome difficulties, and not intervening too quickly. · Supporting self-regulation · Acknowledging children’s emotions and enabling them to understand and explore their feelings, looking at how we do this through opportunity, discussion and props. · Supporting children through transitions and change and helping children understand why they happen, whether it is a transition in the day and enabling them to become familiar with a routine, or perhaps it is moving rooms in a setting, or starting school. If you enable children to understand something it becomes easier for them to manage. · Using language that gives a clear message to children that they are valued, and they can do something and achieve. Using words to foster a can-do approach. · Enabling and encouraging children to engage in risky play. Taking risks, assessing risks and managing risks is a key life skill. There needs to be a clear understanding of what risky play means, and a whole setting approach. Risky play builds resilience through growing confidence and independence. · Helping children to understand delayed gratification, when they realise they can’t always have exactly what they want straight away. · Supporting parents to recognise what they can do to help their children build emotional resilience: having 1:1 time with no distractions, ensuring their children have enough sleep, helping their child to understand delayed gratification, and being outside. As well as being aware of these protective factors it is essential we are aware of the risk factors which can impact negatively on a child’s emotional resilience and ability to build that resilience. These include: · Parental mental health and well being · Repeated early separation from parents/primary carer · Overly harsh or inadequate parenting · Abuse or neglect · Parental conflict · Domestic abuse · Parental job loss or unemployment · Socio economic factors e.g. housing, recession, local environment · Parental criminality As you read that list of risk factors it may well occur to you that several on the list have been mentioned in the news a great deal this year. That brings us to one of the key reasons why I decided to write this article. There is a direct correlation between the identified factors of the secondary impact of Covid 19 and the risk factors that can compromise emotional resilience. We need to be aware and alert. The secondary impact of Covid 19 in terms of risk as identified by the Health Visitors Association are: · Mental health – stress and anxiety · Loneliness · Couple conflict · Domestic violence and abuse · Food poverty · Increased unemployment · Child protection/safeguarding concerns It is about identifying how you in your setting support the protective factors for each child. Consider how you would pick up on changes at home for children? This comes back to parental partnership and how you keep in touch with children and families when they are not attending, due to self-isolation or if you have to close a bubble or your setting. Being open minded is also critical, as families who have not previously been at risk may now be, owing to the impact of the pandemic. At the end of November, the Royal Foundation published a report, ‘State of the Nation: Understanding Public Attitudes to the Early Years’. This report had been commissioned before the pandemic hit; however, the responses obviously reflect the impact of the pandemic, and they further correlate with both the secondary impact information and the emotional resilience risk factors. This report found that: · During the pandemic parental loneliness increased from 38% to 63%. · The increase is more apparent in deprived areas. Parents in deprivation are more than twice as likely to feel lonely as those living in the least deprived areas. · 63% of parents report spending more quality time with their children, however parents who have experienced financial difficulties or who do not live with a partner are more likely than average to say they have spent less quality time with their children, 13% and 16% respectively. The average is 9%. · 37% of parents think the pandemic will have a negative impact on their long-term mental health. · Women (40%) and those experiencing financial difficulties (46%) are particularly likely to report a negative impact. · 70% say they feel judged by others which impacts on their mental health. · 35% feel judged on how their child behaves or how they choose to manage their child’s behaviour (36%). The report highlights key indicators and where we might need to be alert to the needs of children and families. More than a third of parents thinking the pandemic will have a long-term impact on their mental health, shows us this is something we need to reflect on carefully and consider our role in supporting the child and their family. Taking everything into consideration a good starting point is to reflect on practice, knowledge and awareness. · How are you maintaining contact with parents? What do you feel you might be missing due to the way you have had to change how you communicate with parents, or do you feel you know more? · When do you ask for ‘all about me’ forms to be updated? What is included in these that can help you understand and know the child’s family? Are these completed as a conversation together with the parent? If so, you may find out more during this two-way exchange, which can be more supportive and productive than an individual completing a form alone. · Do all of your team know about and understand emotional resilience? For the support of emotional resilience to be embedded practice within a setting there needs to be clear understanding and awareness from everyone. · How do you support each child’s emotional resilience? Which children do you think are particularly resilient and why? You may have a general ethos to support children’s resilience but remember each individual child’s needs will vary. · Are there ways in which you feel you could develop how to support children in building their emotional resilience? Why and what do you feel would be the impact? · What signposting do you provide for parents? How do you engage? How do you support families? In some instances, parents will see you as a source of information and someone that they can talk to for advice. This is a complex area and I have only scratched the surface. I hope this can act as a starting point and enable discussion and reflection within a setting on emotional resilience, why it is important, especially now, and what it means to each child and for our practice.

There are many a strange phenomenon you encounter as a teacher: Where does all the spare P.E kit go? Why does PPA time go so quickly? Why do we bring our own cake on our birthdays? The strange phenomenon I wanted to explore in this article is the apparent “dip” in parent interaction the higher up in education you go. If you have ever taught in Key Stage, you may be familiar with this. Your parents’ evenings, coffee mornings (or whatever online versions you are able to recreate) and playground chats pale in comparison to that of your EYFS colleagues. But why? We can posit some theories: · Parents of very young children have likely made arrangements that provide them more time to be involved in things happening at school. Many parents and carers work long hours and may increase their hours as their child gets older. · The beginning of school is viewed as a more crucial time to be involved due to it being a new experience for the child. Partnership with parents is a key aspect of the Early Years. · One positive reason could be that the older the child gets, the more trust is built between school and relative; they then feel more comfortable with letting the school “get on with things.” While that trusting relationship is a wonderful thing, the way that it manifests isn’t always beneficial for the child. We all know the importance of interconnected support networks - we've seen the impact of the lack of this first hand during the pandemic. This isn’t only true for children at school, it’s true for human beings. This goes back all the way to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (1979) which, in short, examined the different types of social contexts every individual involves themselves in, and the profound effect they have upon that individual’s development. The idea that these different social contexts are all connected is key to this theory We all require and, if we are lucky, maintain, multiple support networks in our day to day lives: family, friends, colleagues. On the surface, it may appear you go to each one for a different purpose. But they are all interconnected. They all affect you and your development as a person. Not that many years ago, the idea that school was for academic learning, and home was for developing as a person, was prevalent. As Comer and Haynes put it: “At the same time, our society has created artificial distinctions about the roles that parents and teachers should play in a young person's development. We tend to think that schools should stick to teaching academics and that home is the place where children's moral and emotional development should take place.” We learn teamwork skills with our colleagues and at home with our family. And we learn compassion with our family as well as our friends. These groups and their teachings are ever connected and equally important to development. There are reams more research on the importance of effective parent-teacher relationships: The University of Sussex published this paper on the topic. More specifically, they were exploring the supposed correlation between strong parent-teacher relationships and higher academic achievement of the child. Spoiler alert: there is a positive correlation between those two. However, it is also heavily reliant on the degree of satisfaction the parent has with the school as a whole. So it’s not a be-all-and-end-all solution. There are a lot of factors. But it is very important nonetheless. Julian Owen wrote this great article exploring the importance of parent-teacher relationships. In it, he says: “Positive parental involvement in a child’s education can have a significant impact on their success at school. A pupil’s personal development, academic achievement and emotional wellbeing are all influenced by the nature of parent-teacher relationships. Teachers and parents also benefit from a positive relationship – stress will be less of an issue and both parties will feel more valued and supported.” I want to expand on the last point in that quote. This is something I never actually considered when I was a teacher, but in retrospect Julian is correct. If I think back to two children I taught recently - same year group; same class. In a very broad sense, both these children were similar academically. The key difference was the depth of the relationship between school and parents. One child had a very involved family. I would talk to either mum, dad or nan in the playground every day and at least one of them came to every parent’s evening. The other child’s parent I met once at the very beginning of the year and saw one other time after that for a parents’ evening. If I think very honestly about both of those children, I did feel less stressed about the first child. Teaching sometimes feels like you’re rowing on a poorly constructed raft in the middle of a vast ocean. But occasionally you float past an island. Islands are where you can stop and rest your tired arms. Islands can be your colleagues, your SLT, your weekends! And they can be having supportive parents of your students. We have to know our children and their families. Thinking about what the barriers are to engagement for parents will help us be creative in the way we connect with them. Is there a language barrier, a time constraint, a legacy of negative feelings about their own schooling, do they know they are valued by the school because they know their child best? In some cases, the requirements of social distancing and reaching out in different ways to families has been very positive, in others it has created another barrier. Another important note is that the apparent “drop off” of parental engagement might not be attributed just to the parents/carers. In my personal experience I have seen a lot of “push back” from the students themselves, especially Year 6 pupils. When running something like a coffee morning, where parents were invited into the classroom to join in with some of my morning lessons with their children (you remember when we were able to do that sort of thing!), I know some of my students told their adults not to come. Sometimes, when a pupil reaches a certain age, the presence of a parent at an event stops being “comforting” and starts being “embarrassing”. That being said, this can go both ways. Seeing their adults at home actively engage with their life at school, can help to reinforce the fact that they have a strong team of connected adults who have their best interests at heart. It’s important the child knows it’s coming from a place of compassion and shared interest and it’s not an attempt to control or apply pressure to them. So, we have some theories as to why parent interaction might drop off. We have talked about the importance of strong parent-teacher relationships. The next logical step is how can you maintain these very important links? There’s no easy answer. It depends so much on your school, the children, the teachers, the parents, the area, the leadership. To combat the nitty gritty reasons might require a more careful look at the specifics of one or more of those things. However, I do have two pieces of general advice which might help whatever your situation. 1. Strong and supportive leadership in school. Some teachers may not feel confident reaching out to parents, especially if it’s to discuss a difficult topic. Teachers need to know they have the support of their SLT if needed and that they are not in this alone. 2. Be proactive. Whatever the reason you don’t see as much of your key stage parents as you might like, be proactive in getting their attention. Seek them out in the playground. Call home. Get them to book in for parent’s evening. And think about what barriers might be causing it to be difficult to engage, and how you can make it as easy as possible for parents and carers to overcome them. Most importantly, think about how much it will help. It may be difficult and require some extra work and time occasionally. But in the long run it will help everyone involved. The parents, you and the child.

Recently my colleague, Luke Rolls, co-edited Reimagining Professional Development in Schools (Routledge, 2020), the second book in a new series inspired by the vision of our school to truly connect research with practice. In the first chapter (Rolls and Hargreaves, 2020), the authors share the endurance and courage of a cross channel swimmer, Sarah Thomas, as a metaphor for the challenges that educators face each day. Sarah swam the English Channel four times without stopping. This unbelievable feat is compared to the ‘wavy seas’ of education and the challenges that educators, both teachers and teaching assistants, overcome to teach each child every day and every school week of the year. They comment that educators’ ‘true stories are usually invisible, untold and unmeasured’. This is not the case, though, of the professionals mentioned in the Reimagining Professional Development book and in this article; stories that must be heard in order to change the deficit narrative so common in our education profession. The unusual thing about this book is that TAs are mentioned as central partners in the work of schools and Chapter 9 was actually co-written by me, a teaching assistant. One thing I know for sure is you can only write about continuing professional development if you have actually experienced it. Unfortunately, so many of my teaching assistant colleagues in other schools say they are not included in professional learning because of school budget constraints. With a population as big as Iceland (UCL, 2020), the teaching assistant community represents a vast resource that needs to be mobilized to support teachers and school leaders if we are serious about realising the ambitions we all have for our children. This is a great opportunity for me to describe how one school, The University of Cambridge Primary School (UCPS), is rewriting the narrative of continuous professional development for all educators, including TAs. Our story goes back to the end of a very busy term in December 2018, when our Head Teacher, James Biddulph, shared with us a quote from Maya Angelou: ‘Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better’. With the words of Dr Angelou replaying in my head and thoughts of the newly founded Chartered College of Teaching (which was founded to support leaders and teachers), I approached Dr Biddulph and Dame Alison Peacock to ask about establishing a Teaching Assistant Twilight Network of professional development. However these twilight sessions would not be exclusively for Teaching Assistants (TAs). They were open to anyone who was willing and able to engage with research informed and practitioner professional development. Dreams came to fruition on the 22nd March 2018 when we welcomed Nancy Gedge to UCPS. Nancy had recently released a book, Inclusion for Primary School Teachers (2016) and had developed impressive practices that included all children. It was great to welcome many educators from the local area to our first session. Nancy was able to share her wealth of inclusive knowledge as a teacher and mother of a child who has special educational needs. These sessions aimed to increase the knowledge and pedagogical practices of teaching assistants in supporting children’s social, emotional and academic development and wellbeing. They also came to represent the beginning of a learning community sharing its collective knowledge, understanding and strategies to support vulnerable children in different settings across Cambridgeshire. Over the years, schools seem to have fallen into a pattern of over reliance on teaching assistants (Webster, 2019, p. 85) to support children who have been identified as having a special educational need. From my own experience, it is often TAs that constantly support children with additional needs; a practice that does a disservice to both the child and the member of staff. It is somewhat puzzling that while teaching assistants are so rarely mentioned in any government guidance, they are expected to achieve so much. And do so with little professional development support. As teaching assistants, we might question whether we are considered in terms of being babysitters and as ‘extra pairs of hands’ to help the teacher? Or are we, or rather can we be, partners with teachers and school leaders and external experts in education, in enabling the very best learning for all children? Thanks to a group of researchers, there is a wealth of evidence out there, which suggests the best way to deploy teaching assistants and how to move children from adult dependence to independence. Currently this CPD is being offered to schools via the Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants team (http://maximisingtas.co.uk/). At UCPS, we have invested in these CPD opportunities and reaped the rewards: our teaching assistants, who we call Learning Coaches, are empowered with knowledge and skill to support children, and to assist them to be independent learners – no matter what their learning need. Paula Bosanquet is a regular visitor to UCPS and her research informed ‘scaffolding triangle’ (Bosanquet et al, 2016) has become an embedded part of our practice. It is through this support to our Learning Coaches that I believe we shift away from adult-dependent children towards celebrating their independence with them. In 2019, after the publication of Including Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Learning and Life: How far have we come since the Warnock Enquiry-and where do we go next? (Webster 2019), we evolved our approach away from standalone sessions to a more coherent professional development programme. Collaborating with two special schools, one in Cambridge and the other in London, we decided that for the academic year our twilight sessions would concentrate on research informed inclusive practice. Over the year, we welcomed researchers, charities, practitioners and experts, all passionate about advancing a vision of education that would serve all children. To model this aim, they were not the only visitors who attended; parents were also welcomed. One memorable session, led by Matthew Parker who specialises in ADHD, was particularly poignant. Not only did he help the attendees to understand the neuroscience of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and how best to support learners in the classroom, he stayed on to spend a considerable amount of time talking with parents, suggesting how to help their youngsters at home. Another standout session took place one cold evening in November when Liz Elks from ELKLAN drove all the way from Cornwall to provide a short but impactful one hour of professional development. In attendance was a head teacher from a local primary school and her team. Liz’s dedication in sharing her expertise led to 3 of our teachers and 6 Learning coaches going on to complete their level 3 ELKLAN qualification. In return for the goodwill of others that we have benefited from, we similarly share our professional development programme, which we are able to offer free online for all educators to access (http://unlockingresearch.org/). A small ripple within the wavy sea of education, attempting to help all children, everywhere. The recent release of a hard hitting government report Special educational needs and disabilities Report (2019) suggests that the timing has been prescient. This publication echoed a similar narrative to that of Webster’s book and the CPD session he delivered for us. The report lays out clearly that the number of children with SEND is increasing alongside a corresponding pressure on teachers and schools. And that a lack of training for school staff means, more than ever, schools urgently need expert advice from other professionals (House, 2019 p.17). So how are the government planning on meeting the needs of learners with SEND and a workforce trying their best to educate all children in challenging circumstances? While there has been years of talk and discussion within political debate of the systemic structural issues in SEND provision, this appears to have been accompanied by very little action. Has any insight been sustained since Warnock suggested founding a Research Special Educational Staff College (Warnock, 1978) in the late 70s? A glimmer of hope comes in this most recent report in the mentioning of developing Regional SEND focused training Hubs. A training hub for the future, a hub recognising the contribution made by all of the adults who work in schools, regardless of their title. With the right implementation, therein could be an educational legacy that this government could proudly provide and commit to for children across the country. What is in no doubt is that educators work tirelessly trying their best to educate and care for the children in their schools. Surely it’s about time, and especially in light of the loss of learning experienced during the global pandemic, that all educators, especially teaching assistants, become viewed as part of the educational process and profession. Fortunately for me, I work at a primary school that offers a different approach and in so doing suggests the possibilities of how much more can be done. Maybe together with my colleagues at school and UCL, we can raise the profile of teaching assistants so that they are professionally recognised for the vital role they play in supporting our future generations.

Journaling is a great way to think about your feelings and reflect. It can help work through difficult emotions, set some goals, acknowledge and enjoy successes, and develop gratitude. It is a way of learning not to self-criticise, but instead to congratulate yourself. It can also be an excellent way to promote children’s developing language skills, encourage their creative writing, support emotional well-being and a positive mental attitude. Children with positive mental attitudes: feel better about themselves see the best in situations and other people stay optimistic and persevere through difficulties seek solutions to their problems know that everyone makes mistakes and that it’s ok overcome failures and persevere with tricky tasks forgive themselves and others Research in the field is limited but there is anecdotal evidence that positive thinking and optimism has an effect on quality of life, for example: Increases life span Lowers your risk for depression Decreases stress Improves resistance to the common cold Overall better psychological and physical well-being Reduces risk of death from cardiovascular disease Promotes better coping skills during times of significant stress Researchers at the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley have suggested that gratitude may be associated with many benefits for individuals, including better physical and psychological health, increased happiness and life satisfaction, and decreased materialism: · Several studies found that girls and women report feeling more grateful than boys and men, possibly because boys and men—at least in the United States—may be more likely to associate gratitude with weakness or indebtedness. · Other studies have identified certain traits that act as barriers to gratitude. These include envy, materialism, narcissism, and cynicism. · A handful of studies suggest that people who are naturally more grateful may be physically healthier, and others suggest that scientifically designed practices to increase gratitude can also improve people’s health and encourage them to adopt healthier habits. · Many more studies have examined possible connections between gratitude and various elements of psychological well-being. In general, grateful people are happier, more satisfied with their lives, less materialistic, and less likely to suffer from burnout. Additionally, some studies have found that gratitude practices, like keeping a “gratitude journal” or writing a letter of gratitude, can increase people’s happiness and overall positive mood. · Studies have found that more grateful adolescents are more interested and satisfied with their school lives, are more kind and helpful, and are more socially integrated. A few studies found that gratitude journaling in the classroom can improve students’ mood and that a curriculum designed to help students appreciate the benefits they have gained from others can successfully teach children to think more gratefully and to exhibit more grateful behaviour. · Research suggests that gratitude inspires people to be more generous, kind, and helpful; that experimentally manipulating people’s feelings of gratitude can lead them to be more helpful and generous—as can activities such as writing a gratitude letter. Two psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami have done much of the research on gratitude (Harvard Medical School): One experimental group of subjects wrote about things they were grateful for that had occurred during the week. A second group wrote about daily irritations or things that had displeased them, and the third wrote about events that had affected them (with no emphasis on them being positive or negative). After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, they also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of aggravation. Yanique Chambers, (www.kiddiematters.com) a social worker from New York, states that journaling gives children, ‘a judgement free space to self-explore and find their creative voice. They can use their journal as a place to dream and set goals. They can also use journal writing to find solutions to internal conflicts and solve problems.’ It can be hard for a child to get started - it’s natural to feel an awkwardness about exposing themselves through their thoughts and feelings. Help children to start with something that’s not about them - e.g. Describe a day in the life of your favourite character from books, film or TV. How do they feel during their day and how do they respond to events throughout the day? Other suggestions could be: · If you could invent something, what would it be? · Thinking about the invention of the internet, describe how it has changed the world. · What can you do to combat climate change? Then move onto more personal ideas. Providing prompts can really help children to focus on an area to expand on in their writing. You could put these on separate bits of paper and ask the children to pull one out - they can always put it back if they’re not interested in that one today! · If you could do anything at all tomorrow, what would it be? · If you could have a special talent, what would it be? · What would be your dream holiday? · What is your favourite place and why? · Is it ever ok to tell a lie? · What do you think you’ll be like, as an adult? · How do you think other people see you? · Why is it important to congratulate people or compliment them? · Write about a time when you helped someone else? · When did you last have trouble making a decision? How did you think about the choices you made? · What changes have you noticed in nature recently? · What has been your favourite story from book, TV or film. Why? Talk about the characters feelings, if you can. · My favourite character from a book is…. · My favourite character from TV or film is… Seattle children’s hospital (www.seattlechildrens.org) have a helpful list of categories you might want to consider with your children. They suggest making lists such as the following: Affirmations list: personal, positive statements that focus on your specific problems or needs. Make up 1 or 2 and write them down 10 to 20 times, meditating on them. For example, ‘My drawing is getting better every day’. Appreciation list: List everything or everyone you are thankful for in your life. This reminds you of the blessings you have, raises your awareness of good health, and helps make that happen in everyday life for example, ‘Spending time with friends or family’. Success list: Write down all the things you do well. Add new ones when they come along. By paying attention to your successes, you encourage yourself to do more. Outflow list: Make a list of ways you can send positive energy to others around you. When you send good thoughts to others, it helps you in a positive way. Self-esteem list: List all the things you like about yourself. When you pay attention to your positive qualities, you turn on your creative energies and inner healing power. Creative ideas: Write your ideas, dreams or plans for the future, even if they seem impossible. By stimulating your creative thinking, you strengthen your powers of creative visualisation and imagery –some of your greatest healing powers. Linda Stade, education writer and consultant from Santa Maria College in Western Australia said in an interview earlier this year that when children are feeling overwhelmed, in a highly reactive state, journaling can really help: ‘What it does is it activates the narrative function in our minds, which means we take events and feelings and we put them into an order, into a story with a beginning and a middle and an end. That gives us a sense of cause and effect. It also gives us a bit of distance from those emotions and feelings so that we can make sense of them. There’s been research that shows it has a physiological effect. So it has an impact on our heart rate. That of course doesn’t mean that it’s curing the problem. But it is a very useful tool’. (globalnews.ca) Linda has a great idea if children are reluctant to write: ‘You can journal with photographs. I’ve got a friend who takes a positive photograph every day and what that does is it draws her attention to the good things in life and that not only makes her positive each day, but when she is experiencing down days, she has all of those images to draw on and all of these good feelings to remind her that life is generally good. Yes, we have bad days but there are lots of good things as well.’ Children can use an online journey platform such as Tapestry to develop a collection of pictures or photos to create a journal. Tapestry’s Child Login feature makes the process that much more personal and the children are therefore agents of their own learning and journaling. As an English teacher, Linda gave her class a regular opportunity to journal: ‘I was an English teacher so I used to journal at the beginning of each lesson, not only to calm them down after lunchtime or after recess, but also to get their creativity flowing. If they are given a set time, sometimes you give them a prompt, sometimes you just let them write whatever they want and that’s sort of prompting them to start thinking and playing with their language and being a bit more creative. They loved it and they got into the habit of just coming into the room and starting straight away without me asking them to. They found it very soothing.’ In order for children to be able to self-regulate and manage their emotions, they need to be aware of them in the first instance. Journaling is a good way of identifying those emotions. Children can carry out the initial writing and the teacher can then have a conversation about it or add comments to their writing. The child needs to be able to trust the teacher and this takes time. The teacher can ask questions such as ‘How does that make you feel?’ and can give them words to help them identify what they’re feeling. A great idea for starting off journaling with your younger children comes from a book called ‘Gratitude Soup’, by Olivia Rosewood: Olivia states ‘Although gratitude has been a staple of human faith and philosophy for thousands of years, the formal scientific exploration of gratitude only began in the year 2000, and it has been fervently studied ever since. In one study performed at UC Davis, published in the Journal of School Psychology, those who had a daily gratitude activity had more positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness, and energy. Gratitude can lead to fewer physical ailments, as well as an enhanced feeling of well being. Children who practiced gratitude showed more positive attitudes toward their school and their families. They are less likely to judge others, and also less jealous. They are more likely to share and to want to help. Without a doubt, gratitude is a powerful life tool! ‘ In Olivia’s book, Violet the Purple Fairy learns how to make Gratitude Soup by thinking of all the things, people, places, and experiences that she is grateful for, putting them in an imaginary soup pot. She is able to shrink her pot of soup with her imagination, and she keeps the gratitude warm and flowing in her heart all day and all night. Some useful gratitude prompts are: · What was the best part of your day today? · What made you laugh today? · Who did you have fun playing with today? · What activity are you glad you got to do today? · The best thing at the weekend was… And take your pick from these! What can you do now that you couldn’t do when you were 4? I am good at… I love… I am brave to try I persevere I try hard I am curious I am kind I practice so I can get better at… If it’s tricky, I can always try… Interview your family and ask them what your best characteristic is Can you remember something you used to find difficult? What does learning mean to me? I might not be able to control everything, but I can choose how I respond I am in control of my words I am in control of what I do after a mistake I can ask for help from… I can control how much effort I put in… I am learning to find solutions When do you feel the most loved/cared for? The book I’m reading makes me think about… When are you at your happiest? If I’m feeling sad or anxious, I know the feeling won’t last forever. I felt anxious when… I don’t know how to do this yet… I can talk to myself as if I’m encouraging a friend… I can take responsibility for what I do I can apologise and forgive myself I can try different ways of getting things right A challenge is good. It helps me to learn something new. I can look for other possibilities or solutions What’s the worst that could happen? If the worst did happen, how would I deal with it? What would the people who care about me say? What’s the best possible thing that could happen? Remember a time when you felt joy. Where were you? What happened? What in nature comforts you? I was proud of myself when… Something that comforts me Something that’s funny Something that’s interesting Something that’s beautiful I learned something new today… I’m up for a challenge I am grateful for… I am a good friend What makes me happy? How I helped someone today The last time I laughed was… I did something scary and… I left someone a happy note and… I said sorry when… When I daydream, I… The last time I gave someone a compliment… I said sorry when… I made a difference today by… I made someone happy when…

The re-opening of schools in September marked a turning point in the government’s response to the pandemic. Pupils needed to get back to their education and school community. The six-month interruption was about to end and the ‘new normal’ – a phrase that now trips off the tongue - of school life was about to begin. Preparations were extensive both in terms of the physical environment and the protocols for anyone who would enter and, indeed, not enter the building. Managers and staff were faced with challenges that would previously have been inconceivable. Just imagine if a year ago we could have seen photographs or videos of September 2020 – a resounding ‘What on earth is going on?’ Well, it did go on! Here senior leaders give us a taste of how the first half of this historic autumn term has been: Harris Primary Academy, East Dulwich. “The process of reopening Harris Primary Academy following the national lockdown has been deeply rewarding.” Betty Johnson, Head of the Academy, and Matt Britt, Assistant Director of Primary for the Harris Federation, worked closely to implement a risk management system that would enable their school community to be as safe as possible, while providing as normal a school experience as achievable. On welcoming the pupils back, Betty said, “I am so pleased with the ways our children and parents have supported us. It has been a delight to see how well behaved and enthusiastic our children have been in returning to school – they really are eager to learn”. Betty talked about some of the adjustments that have been made, “We have had to adapt our teaching, particularly for Year One pupils who missed a large chunk of their Reception year. This has included providing lots of exposure to early reading strategies, storytelling and writing. The children have needed some time to resettle to our expectations and develop stamina in their independent work.” Additional support was offered to pupils to prepare for the new term. Matt explained, “Despite having offered online lessons from day one of the lockdown and providing laptops and Wi-Fi access to those children who needed it, some pupils needed an extra boost before the start of the new school year.” Consequently, during August there were two weeks of live online classes so that the older pupils would be prepared for going back. “We felt this was crucial so they could return to school with the key ground rules already covered and a lot of the catch-up elements secured.” Reflecting on this momentous reopening, Matt reported how they handled an organisational responsibility facing all schools, “One of the biggest challenges we faced was managing the start and end of the school day. The playground only has one entrance and the outdoor space is fairly small. We put in place a one-way system with staggered drop-off and collection times, so that pupils and parents could remain socially distanced. Hand-washing facilities were also made available on arrival.” The staff contributed immeasurably to the smooth running of the day, including making sure that classes started and ended on time. Though our world is full of uncertainties, Betty and Matt pointed out that one thing is certain and plain to see - the incredible value of the pupils being back at school. One of the children made this clear during the first week back, “I am just so happy to be back with my friends and with the teachers who make me feel safe and special.” Charles Dickens Primary School and Nursery, Southwark. “Someone asked me the other day how this term has been, and I described it like being on an extended family caravan holiday; you plan for it, look forward to it, have lovely days, too many rainy days. And, by the end of it, despite the highs you’re rather glad it’s over.” This is the verdict of Headteacher, Cassie Buchanan, at the end of the first half of term. Cassie started by describing the sheer exhaustion of teaching in a Covid-safe setting, “There’s been limited opportunity for things we normally take for granted like spontaneity, coming together as a school community, having regular professional dialogues. As well as this, there is the strain of trying to sustain a cheerful and warm atmosphere against the backdrop of a global pandemic.” Nevertheless, Cassie pointed out that some of the challenges have brought positive outcomes, “The highs have been high, and we have learnt such a lot. One of the main benefits we’ve welcomed has been building stronger relationships with parents. We now have more of a sense of shared responsibility for the children.” Cassie explained how this increased trust has enabled more honest conversations about parenting and, in turn, accelerated getting external support for those children that need it. Another positive Covid-related tweak is that, “We have been celebrating the everyday small successes much more – things like children being able to put on their coats, mark-making, managing their feelings well, and so on.” Cassie contrasted this to the more formal approach of recognising achievements at fixed points in the year. Reflecting on the first few days of term Cassie explained, “Our first major learning curve was teaching the parents new safety routines. We’d hoped that parents would queue on the floor markings. However, this didn't happen, leading to delays and frayed tempers. We had to change our system quickly!” It was decided that drop offs and collection of younger children would move to the school gates rather than classroom doors. Initially, senior leaders saw this as lost time, taking ninety minutes instead of the pre-Covid thirty, “It was seen as neglecting the important stuff but, as term proceeded, gate duty became the important stuff. It’s a valuable time when we learn parents’ names, talk about the children and foster strong relationships”. For Cassie the principal challenge of the term has been supporting children with SEND. The usual intervention groups could not continue due to having to keep year groups apart. “We decided to expand a specialist class we have for older children with autism to a full-time provision. We, too, set up a specialist base in a garden classroom for younger children to come to for part of the day to work individually on language and social skills. This has been an enormous success - many of the group are now able to speak in two and three-word phrases. The children seem happier and calmer learning in a garden environment with chickens wandering in and out”. This is another Covid-prompted innovation they hope to continue with. Cassie ended by talking about the difficulty of staff absence, “Moving staff to cover absence is a laborious process. We have to ensure bubbles aren’t compromised, and that those covering are both comfortable and capable in each cover role.” Consequently, a detailed cover plan was drawn up, “This helped relieve the mental gymnastics of figuring out who was available, safe and suitable”. Cassie looks ahead with a heartening attitude, “As we move into the second half of this term, I think we are now more skilled at adapting to change, more resilient to the lows and more aware of the need to celebrate the joy within each school day. I might need a warmer coat for standing on the school gates though!” Eko Trust, six schools in Newham, Barking & Dagenham and Hackney. “We were amazed and surprised that the children were ready to come back, and at peace with meeting up with friends and rekindling their play – it was as if they’d never been away,” says Cathy Gunning, EYFS Lead at Eko Trust. After the immense amount of planning for the new term, when September eventually arrived staff across the trust were ready to welcome the children back and greet the new starters. “For our returning Reception children, it was a successful and happy start,” remarked Cathy, “We were amazed that the children were so pleased to be back - they took it in their stride, as if they had never been away!” For the new children arriving in Reception the settling was taken more slowly, with their time spent in school gradually increased. Across the trust there was a consensus that the children surpassed our expectations in terms of their resilience and coping strategies. Attendance has been pleasingly high. Cathy put this down to the extensive preparations between home and school, giving both parents and children confidence. “We recognised that parents and carers would have differing levels of anxiety. At one of our primary schools, for instance, a parent was very concerned about being around other parents, so we arranged a separate place for them to bring their child and slightly altered their timings. Similar personalised adaptations have occurred in most of our schools.” Cathy thinks that this bespoke planning, together with the fact that every child’s teacher is in contact with home via email, has alleviated major parental worries about re-opening. Eko Trust also put a lot of time into preparing for the eventuality of bubbles being sent home. Again, this depended on working closely with families so that there could be a smooth transition between working at school and home. Cathy comments, “Having familiarised parents with our online approach –Tapestry for Reception – the switch from school to supporting play and learning at home was easy.” Cathy reports that the teams have found it fascinating talking with the children about the pandemic. “They are very knowledgeable about germs and what they can do to keep safe. One child told their teacher, “If you touch the dirty things and lick your hand you get ‘coronivorus’”. “In all, the children seem to be settled and happy, transitioning back positively. We will be there to continue to help them enjoy school and their learning every step of the way.”

Observations are subject to unconscious bias because they are subjective – they are based on our interpretation of what we can see. Our unconscious biases are often rooted in the feelings, attitudes and beliefs that help us to navigate the world, and can led to prejudice and unfair treatment of others. We can gain our bias from our interactions with: · family · social circles · education · television and film · newspapers · social media · advertising · friendship groups We may perceive children differently because they: · are from another race, culture, religion and/or class · have English as a second language · are non-verbal · have additional emotional and social needs · display behaviour that is viewed as difficult or challenging · have a disability · do not conform to what is perceived as the norm · are male or female Affinity Bias Affinity bias refers to when we display a preference towards children and families who share certain qualities or characteristics with us, or people we like. For example, I once did some work with two groups of families – the first family were Black from the Caribbean and the second family were Asian from Bangladesh. As a Black British Woman of West Indian heritage, I had a natural affinity with the Black and Caribbean group. I shared many cultural traditions with them, which meant I could more easily relate to where they were coming from when they talked about their children. I understood the cultural nuances. It was in those moments that my affinity bias came into play. To counter my affinity bias and to make sure that I treated the Bengali families fairly, I took a number of practical steps which included looking closely at my teaching materials and case studies to ensure that they were relevant to and reflected the Bengali families I was working with. I also questioned and reflected upon my personal beliefs and attitudes about different cultures to help maintain my objectivity. Whilst we cannot fully eradicate affinity bias from our observations, we should be alert to them because they influence how we see children and their families. Many aspects of the Observe, Assess and Plan (OAP) process can be impacted by our natural affinities, particularly if the educator shares the same cultural heritage as the child being observed and assessed. To counteract this, we have to reflect more deeply on our assessments, checking our interpretations and conclusions to ensure that we deal with issues of race, gender and identity honestly and openly. There is so much we can learn about children and their culture, and it is vital that as educators we work with their parents and guardians to understand their backgrounds and cultural norms. This means that we need to make time to listen to families from different backgrounds. Finding out about the important events in children’s lives and respecting every child’s home/family background and culture opens us up to differences in approaches. It is in this way we can begin to break down stereotypes we may have of children and their families, which could have a negative impact on their progression. Case Study Three-year old James was sitting on the carpet looking at a book. A few minutes later he was joined by three-year old Dylan who tried to take the book away from him. James defended the book by gently pushing Dylan’s arm away. Dylan screamed. The educator, asked James “What did you do?’ James replied, “I haven’t done nothing.’ The educators instructed him to go and sit on the time out chair and smiled sweetly at Dylan. When coming over to the book corner, the educator made an initial assessment snap of the situation. Without asking Dylan what happened or further probing James, the educator made the assumption that James instigated the situation and was the only one to blame. The educator showed no empathy towards James and instead favoured Dylan. It is important to note that Dylan and the educator live on the same street. Bias can take many forms and young children may become the focus of your unconscious bias if your brain perceives them as different. Turning a blind eye to bias damages children’s development and learning. When observing and assessing children who are not from the same cultural groups as ourselves, we need to have strategies in place to check our conclusions. At the very least this means we question our OAP criteria for bias in interpretation. Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias is when we search for information or interpret what we see in ways that confirm our pre-existing beliefs. We pay specific attention to information or observations that support our views, leading us to pay much more attention to our assumptions and beliefs than what is actually happening in front of us. We may go out of our way to look for evidence to prove our expectations to be true, while at the same time turning a blind eye to the information that challenges our beliefs. Confirmation bias has an influence on how educators gather information, interpret and recall it. For example, if we believe that a child is under achieving, we might seek out observations that reaffirm the need to limit the opportunities we offer them rather than encouraging us to set up activities that will stretch them. Confirmation bias can also reinforce stereotypes that we have about children. Case Study After reading the reception class a story, an educator begins to ask the group questions about the story. Several white boys shout out the answers to her questions and are encouraged to participate further and share their ideas as the discussion continues. Romeo, a Black boy, then calls out an answer. The educator directs him to put his hand up if he wants to say something and tells him to stop being disruptive, despite earlier encouraging the white children to participate. After several attempts to get the educators attention by putting his hand up with the answer and being deliberately ignored by her, Romeo disengages from the discussion altogether. The next day, Romeo continues to disengage from story time. His parents notice a difference in his behaviour at home. Attribution Bias Attribution bias refers to the errors that an individual makes when trying to find reasons for their own behaviours and motivations or the behaviours and motivations of others. Attribution bias is about when we attribute the cause of a child’s behaviour to their character and not the situation. It can be devastating for children to have their characters judged in this way when in reality they may have withdrawn from an activity due to the situation. For example, when we observe that a child has disengaged from the learning process, we might blame the child for not conforming to our perceived norms, ignoring the fact that we repeatedly refuse to meet that child’s needs to participate in the group discussion. Attribution bias affects how we feel about our own behaviour and think about the children and families that we work with. Our observations of them are like stories, sometime the stories are factual at other times they are based on what we think we see, our attitudes and interpretation of children’s behaviour. How likely are we to put our assumptions, beliefs and expectations into the story in positive and/or negative ways? Case Study In a small rural village preschool two sisters of mixed heritage attend an all white setting. One day the staff set up a role-play area as a hairdressing salon. It had all sorts of mirrors, brushes, shower caps, hairdryers and product packages etc. The sisters raced into the hairdressers with their friends but very quickly came out quiet, despondent. When the educator asked them what was wrong they replied, "There's nothing for us." When their mum came to pick them up the educator had a discussion with her about the children’s lack of engagement. To facilitate the discussion, the educator took the mum into the role-play area. The mum explained that the girls used Afro combs and different types of products in their hair. She kindly gave the setting some resources to use and it sparked lots of positive conversations with the other children about differences in hair and differences between people in general. From this discussion the educator understood that she had not represented the girls’ culture well enough and recognised that she would need to gather more information from the parents in order to counter her Eurocentric practice that had initially excluded the girls. The two girls were not being difficult or challenging because they didn’t want to engage. It is only by observing and listening to children attentively with an open mind, that we begin to avoid attribution bias. Being open to how children learn, their interests and how they think and solve problems, will help us to value them as unique individuals. Effective practice starts with observation and it must involve children’s parents and guardians. Tackling Bias The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile results in England for 2018-2019 states that 72% of white children meet the expected standard in development compared to 68% of black children. There is a difference of 4 percentage points. Whilst there are likely to be a range of complicated factors at play here, if our unconscious biases remain unchecked it is highly likely that they, and other underrepresented groups, will under achieve as a result of inaccurate assessments, leading to planning and expectations of learning that does not meet children’s unique and individual needs. Assessment judgments of children’s progress are important decision points for the type of support that children will receive, making it crucial that judgments be as accurate as possible to ensure all children are given the best start in life. As educators we need to be brave and open to having difficult conversations about bias and take the time to reflect on views, attitudes and beliefs. In doing this, it’s important that we are specific about the language that we use when seeking to address bias. For example, if we talk about taking an anti-racist approach to observations and assessment practices, it is important that we are specific with staff about what this means and how we are going to get there. Effective practice involves reflecting on our teaching practices and our interactions - that includes encouraging staff to question their observations and assessments to check whether they are looking at situations through a skewed lens. This should involve carrying out regular analysis on children’s achievements by race, ethnicity and gender and then acting on findings. Observing children is a pedagogical responsibility placed on all educators working in the Early Years Foundation Stage so that they can plan to meet children’s unique needs. It’s important to have on-going conversations about bias, race, ethnicity and gender in team meetings, leadership meetings and CPD days. It is simply not enough to have one off training days as a token gesture to fighting racism, it must be firmly and consistently embedded at all levels of an organisation if it is to make a real impact.

In the Early Years/education sector many of us can feel confused or uninspired about what steps to take next with our career pathways. In the light of the current worldwide crisis, Early Years practitioners, educators, teachers, professionals have come under more stress, with increases in our workloads. We may lack motivation due to the unpredictable state of the workforce, our students and the world. We may have already been feeling lost due to the existing pressures of the job and the pressures of life in general. Some of us have been in the profession for decades and others have just started their journey, but the feeling across the board for many of us is ‘what next?’ The start of this year At the beginning of the year 2020 we all had high expectations of what this New Year would bring and what we would achieve. The New Year/the new school term is always a good place to start afresh and should be a great time to reflect and apply new energy, having recharged our batteries over the Christmas holidays. I was looking forward to finishing the first year of my primary Ed degree and I had visits planned with several schools as a keynote speaker. We all mapped out and planned our year as we normally would. But all that changed in March. I don’t know what you were doing at the time, but I can guess for many of us our day may have started the same way: I walked into my class, greeted my colleagues, and started my morning ritual of setting up the classroom. And then I was told by the team that we had a whole school meeting in the staff room at 8.45am. Now these whole school meetings would only happen if we had training, someone was sadly leaving, or they were giving us some serious news. I knew about the rise of Covid 19, but I didn’t think it would affect us at the school. Yet to my surprise we were told they were planning to close the school. The new norm We were told to start prepping for the closure of the school and about the government Covid guidance. We were instructed to film activities that would be put on YouTube for parents to view. To accompany the filmed activities, we had to create take home bags for each child in our classes. The senior faculty team informed us that the school would close based on government guidelines. They told us our work would not stop but that we would be working from home. Each class would have to hold a catch-up meeting on Zoom or Microsoft Teams every morning and we would have to create more activity videos and send in activity power points daily. Teachers would hold one to one sessions with children and their parents. We didn’t know how long the closure would last, but we knew that this way of working was the ‘new norm’. Reflection I knew that things wouldn’t be the same and that thought echoed throughout the sector. Even now that my school and many others are open again, we are still not back to what we classed as the norm. The pressure of working within bubbles, having to wear a mask, and maintaining social distancing with children who are neurodiverse and neurotypical has added weight to a job which is already demanding. These thoughts and the current climate led me to write this blog. In this time of Covid and worldwide change, how do we regain focus and what steps do we take to continue with our continuous professional development (CPD) and embark on our career pathways. I reflected on my own journey and what helped me to restart and continue THE WORK. I then reflected on a previous article I had written (for Optimus Ed) and thought about the health and wellbeing of my colleagues. Pause Let me give you one word of advice: PAUSE… We all need to allocate a time during the day to do nothing or allocate a time to do the things that we enjoy. We can sometimes become fixated on completing a task or stuck in the routine of work, so we forget about our own wellbeing. A moment of stillness enables us to clear our thoughts and give our own desires and needs some attention. If you’re not feeling motivated… It is good practice to visit other classrooms (within your bubble) or visit websites of other schools (due to the pandemic visits to other schools are off limits). Talk to other members in your team or within your bubble when lost for ideas. You can also use the web if you want to find inspiration – join websites like Pinterest or purchase activity books. Personally, new toys, equipment or paint make me happy, so I always try and treat my class to one of these things. I’ll make suggestions for new resources that my class may need and if there’s a budget I’ll push for it to be purchased. New equipment creates new activities or possibilities. Remember, energy never dies, it is transferred. The energy we bring to work is transferred to all the people we meet in passing. So, if we are full of joy, our positive energy should rub off on our children and our team. Then when they go home, they will share that energy with others in their households. This is also true of negative energy. Here are some wellbeing and CPD tips Jamel Carly’s 3 tips to support mental health and wellbeing: 1. Write a list of all the things you enjoy. Then try to do at least two of these things each week. This will make you feel good because you’re doing things that you like to do, and it will give you something to look forward to other than going to work or the responsibilities of your personal life. 2. Find a special place. A place of peace, maybe a place you visited as a child that holds good memories or a place you aspire to live in. This will help to raise your spirits and create a euphoric feeling of aspiration and motivation. 3. Celebrate your accomplishments. It doesn’t matter if they’re big or small. You have achieved something, so be proud. There is not just one conventional route or career pathway in the Early Years. Due to that factor, making progression or joining the sector can be a daunting task for many. Jamel Carly’s 3 tips to support career progression and CPD: 1. Research current career guidelines and pathways on the gov.uk website. Guidelines and pathways are constantly changing. 2. Some nursery chains and schools have apprenticeship opportunities and ‘learn as you work’ schemes to support aspiring Early Years educators as well as aspiring managers. Ask your manager to contact the learning department at your setting to find out what courses are available and to receive the annual learning/training calendar. 3. I would advise all those who work in the early years to become active online. Join early years groups on your social media platform of choice and visit Early Years CPD provision websites. They often have blogs or links to training, job vacancies or job sites. Each person’s mental wellbeing threshold is like a fingerprint and their wellness needs will be different to mine. These tips are based on my own experiences - I hope they will help you. The Early Years career pathway is always changing. Qualifications don’t determine what roles you can get once you have achieved your foundation qualification of a Level 3 or Level 4. Your employment is based on your knowledge and experience. You need to be actively researching and making steps towards embarking on your progression journey. This is true, even though the way we teach and the daily functions of our schools have changed in a big way with new concepts such as bubbles and remote learning. I acknowledge that during this time senior leadership teams are trying their best to support the children that attend their settings and the teams they employ. Finding the balance of supporting staff and children is a huge task even without a global pandemic, and dealing with the current crisis while maintaining a level of normality has become the main challenge. The Covid crisis has taken centre stage but we can’t allow that to taint the level of care and practice we apply. Sometimes the job can be overwhelming, but we need to take time out to care for ourselves. Health is wealth, and we cannot care for or teach our students if we are not in good health physically, mentally and emotionally. We need to take a moment to acknowledge the fact that the work we do is not easy. But each day we turn up we are supporting the learning of our children and giving them the tools they need to thrive. We make a difference to their lives and you/we are modern day heroes.

One of the few positives to emerge from the first lockdown period has been a renewed interest by parents and professionals in the health and wellbeing of young children. Quite rightly - children’s mental health is a priority – but we should never underestimate the profound link in children’s lives between their emotional equilibrium and need to move. Early childhood is all about being physically active. Not only is movement considered to be ‘the first language’ of childhood – and ‘thought in action’ – it also provides a supportive and effective framework within which friendships are created and sustained, interests stimulated and extended and new skills acquired and refined. Being physically confident and competent is essential for young children. Joining in, keeping up and contributing to physical play has a significant impact on their social/communication skills and overall language development. So, what issues may you have noticed relating to children’s physical development as they return to settings, and how may this area of development be best supported? These are some of the general concerns that have arisen so far: Activity levels Many children have not experienced anywhere near the recommended daily level of physical activity for a very long time, particularly those living in densely populated urban areas. These children may have been kept indoors for extended periods, unable to access available open spaces and prevented from practising the everyday ‘big body movements’ like running, jumping, climbing, digging, swinging, scootering – that provide the necessary means to promote and maintain overall body strength, balance, agility and coordination. How may diminished time being outside and active in fresh air and natural light impact on children’s general health? · Exposure to natural light stimulates the neurotransmitter, Serotonin. This is hugely important for young children because it helps them feel alert, active and able to remember. You may have noticed some children are a bit slower to react to instructions or simply cannot remember what these were. With the changing of the clocks it is even more important to use the daylight hours we do have positively and productively. · Vitamin D in sunlight is also important for supporting children’s immune systems. Vitamin D aids the capture of dietary calcium from the blood into bone structure and helps create a strong skeleton. You may have noticed children’s immune systems are lowered and a higher level of coughs and snuffles are present than is usual for this time of year. They may not be as physically strong as previously noted – so climbing and hanging activities may be a bit more challenging now. · Remember that that the oxygen level inside is around 11% - outside it is 20% - so being outside and active as much as possible is a vital support for health and wellbeing. · Sleep: lack of exposure to natural light negatively affects sleep patterns. The blue light that is present in natural daylight stimulates the pineal gland in the brain that regulates the ‘biological clock’ through alternately raising and lowering levels of serotonin and melatonin production in the body. Being outside and active between 8 am – 12 pm ensures that the evening levels of melatonin that support a good night’s sleep are maintained. You may notice that some children have experienced disrupted sleep routines, or a complete absence of healthy sleep habits for a long time. They may arrive tired and irritable with low energy levels and craving sugary snacks – so being physically active is a vital tool to ensure they return to healthy sleep patterns. If possible, provide plenty of opportunities to play outside, whatever the weather. For at least 45 mins and longer if appropriate. Young children need extended exposure to natural daylight particularly at this time when their health and body systems require proactive support. How may essential body systems be affected by lowered levels of physical activity? Proprioceptive system The proprioceptive system is all about developing body sense, control and management. How we perceive ourselves in space and how we sense where our bodies begin and end relate directly to the maintenance of the proprioceptive sense through continual movement. We all draw on this sense whenever we cook, park, dress, wash hands, brush hair/teeth and navigate our way through crowds. For young children having a fully functioning proprioceptive sense is vital and it may be supported by experiencing ‘big/heavy’ movements including digging, pushing, pulling, lifting, carrying, hanging upside down, jumping, throwing, moving around obstacles and practising how to fit into small spaces. Prolonged periods of inactivity will not have supported children’s growing proprioceptive sense and you may have noticed individuals who find navigating around obstacles and other people particularly challenging. They may also be stressed by large open spaces and keep to the corners or margins where they feel more secure. Remember that much of children’s sense of self-identity is dependent on physical action and interaction with others in different environments. If this has been denied for an extended period, they may also be less confident in their physical play and very concerned about keeping to rules and regulations. It is important to offer lots of opportunities – both inside and outside - that stimulate and support the proprioceptive system. Think of the ‘big/heavy’ movements mentioned previously and find different ways in which children can rehearse them either individually or within a small group. Vestibular system The vestibular system is the first to be developed in utero – at around 17 weeks. The relevant apparatus is located in the inner ear and is linked to balance, postural control and coordination. A well-developed balance system develops through continual bodily movement so that eventually it can operate automatically and unconsciously. This will free-up the body to perform ‘higher level’ tasks like writing and drawing. It is critical that a strong sense of equilibrium relating to space and gravity emerges over time for young children. This comes through experience of the following movements: twisting, turning, spinning, rocking, swinging, rolling, sliding, tipping, tilting, bouncing, moving very fast and rough -and-tumble play. You may have noticed some children are fearful of entering wide spaces alone and have lost confidence in their ability to move at speed or to balance and climb. Rough and tumble play may worry them if this has not been a part of their lives for a while. You may also notice that sitting still and listening has become more challenging. It is well worth checking if they are wearing the right sized shoes – at any one time 26% of children are not wearing the correct size – and this will have a serious effect on their ability to balance and move fluently. If/when appropriate consider providing times when children can take their shoes off and strengthen the muscles in the feet and ankles. To support the vestibular system, try to provide lots of easy opportunities to practise together the movements mentioned previously. Remember this system takes around 7 years to fully develop and needs daily active reminders to function at the optimum level. Vision and Hearing If children have been deprived of adequate time to experience physical play outside and have spent extended periods inside engaging with a screen, their visual skills may not be working as effectively as before. Vision develops through spending time in a stimulating and complex visual landscapes and learning to move through this world with ease and enjoyment. External visual input must be processed alongside internal input that comes through moving in space (linked to the vestibular system) and bodily movement (linked to the proprioceptive system). Good spatial awareness, spatial reasoning and hand-eye coordination will emerge from continual movement experienced in a range of environments. Being active and outdoors supports the eyes in the following ways: · To switch at speed from near to far vision – this is a critical skill needed to engage with many classroom activities · It also supports the ability of the iris to adjust as the body moves from dark to light spaces · The ability of the eye muscles to control fine eye movement and change to a steady gaze is essential for reading · It supports the ability of the eyes to understand contrast, shadow and visual textures and to see tone and shade within colours There is a theory that although extended screen use is known to be a factor in the increasing incidence of myopia in young children – one of the major factors may be their lack of lengthy exposure to natural light in the early years. Natural light is 100-200 times brighter than artificial light and experts consider that daily exposure to 2 hrs of natural light may be an important element in preventing myopia. Over 1M children have undiagnosed vision issues in the UK – so an awareness of the added problems that being at home for so long may have caused is essential. Being able to make sense of the sound landscape – distinguishing between different voices and sounds such as cars, hoovers, birds, dogs, washing machines – is a skill that is gained through exposure and experience. How sounds relate to each other, what they mean, which way they are coming from and where they are moving to must all be processed and understood. Being away from the familiar surroundings of settings and community for an extended period may well have affected children’s hearing ability. Some may not have been exposed to English for a time, others may have become used to a very quiet environment and find loud situations difficult to manage, or are now accustomed to one that is loud and fractious and learning to speak quietly again is a challenge. To conclude In this time of re- emergence and recovery, being physically active as much as possible every day is essential to support the bodily senses and systems that may have been under considerable strain for a long time. Children now need to rediscover their joy in movement - to engage confidently in physical play with their friends, to instigate projects, to investigate different environments and to explore new skills and opportunities in their localities. So, what would my top tips be: Approach the recovery of children’s physical abilities gently and recognise the role of movement skills in supporting their overall development and wellbeing. Physical development supports, informs and underpins all areas of learning so getting this right for children is, perhaps, more important at the moment than addressing their perceived ‘learning losses.’ Remember the value of ‘the basics’ – being outside and active as much as possible and the ‘big body movements’ that are the building blocks for all complex movement skills. Also, think of ‘marginal gains’ – the small tweaks and adjustments to daily routines that can ultimately make a significant difference to children’s overall welfare.