TEY-10.2

What did we learn from lockdown? Valuable lessons can be taken away from the enforced break, says Sue Cowley.. WITH LOCKDOWN HOPEFULLY behind us, and settings asked to fully reopen to all children, practitioners will be hoping for something that looks a bit more like ‘normality’ in September. But as our current children return, and new children join us, practitioners need to consider the variety of experiences that the children have had during lockdown. How can we build on and celebrate the learning that happened at home; how can we support the children whose families have experienced difficulties? It is important to remember that “every family has their own story of lockdown” – it is important not to generalise when the range of experiences will be so diverse. MESSY AND RANDOM The narrative coming from the DfE during lockdown was one of deficit – children would have ‘lost out on learning’, there would be “gaps” that need to “be filled”. It seemed impossible for the DfE to understand that children could still learn when they are not in school, perhaps especially so in the early years. The government’s vision of ‘an education’ seemed to be an expert teacher delivering a pre-existing curriculum to compliant novice learners, rather than the joyous, messy and often random experience that is working with children from birth to five and beyond. Experiences of lockdown will have varied considerably for different families. For those in key worker roles, lockdown may have meant working patterns that were SUE COWLEY IS AN AUTHOR AND EDUCATOR AND HELPS RUN HER LOCAL PRESCHOOL. similar to normal, but with the added anxiety of potentially contracting Covid- 19. It was generally those in higher paid office-based jobs who had to continue to work from home, as well as look after their own children. Many parents in lower paid jobs, such as retail or catering, were likely to have been put on the jobs retention scheme and to have had some unanticipated quality time with their children during lockdown. LIBERATED On social media, many parents are reporting that they effectively felt liberated from the demands of the workplace by being furloughed. Many have clearly loved the opportunity to spend time playing and learning with their small children. Lockdown will of course have been hard for some families, particularly those without access to outdoor space, those with financial worries, those who have been bereaved and those where there were existing strains or stresses in the home environment. However, for many it will have come as a welcome opportunity to spend some extra time with their young children 22 Teachearlyyears.com

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