Back to School

                        

This year, as we prepare for back to school, I can't help thinking that we, as parents also need to be given a new handbook on how school is actually going to work.  As I write this, the news that an entire class from Caerphilly has been sent to self isolate for 14 days, a few days into the new school year has just been reported.

As for us parents, our ability to prepare our children for school has been disjointed at best.  

• Does my lg need her own pencil case for y3?  Apparently yes, but this year they have to take them in and leave them there ...not bring them to and from home (sensible in the circumstances).  
• Does she need a water bottle? Also yes, but this one does go back and forth and has to be full when they take it in.
• Does she need a school bag? Only for packed lunch.
• Can we still cycle and use the bike shed? Apparently yes, but we're not entirely sure how that's meant to work with 1 bike shed for 400 kids ... 

We've shopped and prepped as best we can.  Labelled everything in sight (sharing is no longer allowed - so my lg needs an easy way of knowing what equipment is actually hers). 

In Wales, under 11s aren't required to social distance.  So the simple act of sending our children back to school means putting them in a classroom with (in our case) 28 other children my lg isn't required to social distance from, and who aren't required to social distance from her.  

School preparation this year has included 

• explaining that there's no playing with friends from other year groups at break or lunch times,
• explaining that they aren't going to be allowed to decide which bit of the school grounds they want to play in - each year group will be allocated space,
• explaining that they have to have their temperature taken before going in to school,
• and a back-to-school gift of a bottle of hand sanitiser.

But, for my 7yo, and many others like her, the biggest challenge is yet to come.  As a child with separated parents, her biggest fear is being sent home to self isolate for 2 weeks.  Not because of the isolation, but because it will mean she will have no face to face contact with the other parent for that time. Because 2 weeks is a long time for a 7yo.

As parents, we have little choice in whether or not we send our children back to school.  Yes, homeschooling (officially) is an alternative.  But for many of us, it's not really practical.  Especially in the current circumstances, with minimal contact with peers and visits to places curtailed by the COVID restrictions.  Also, homeschooling proper means DIY school ... not just helping your child through the work set by their teachers.

As we get ready for a new year of school, it also marks a new beginning in our relationship with the school and the way in which we educate our children.  Because, this next school year is going to be different.  It is, essentially, the biggest experiment we have ever conducted in our lifetime.  How does our education system cope with being shoehorned into working in a way for which it was never designed, and our teachers (let alone parents) have had minimal (if any) preparation or training to deliver?  How do we manage the anxiety caused by never knowing if you're suddenly told to stay home from school for 2 weeks because one of your classmates has tested positive for COVID?  

But most of all, are we ready to re-think the plan at the last minute?  Because essentially we are all hoping that they've got the science right, and sending our children back to school in huge numbers isn't going to backfire.