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Reflections on going back to school. In preparation for Year 2's return, I spent a lot of time planing in opportunities for them to reflect, talk and share how they are feeling. Lockdown has been hard on all of us so my focus was almost entirely on the pastoral side of the job.
Our first day was a half day so most of it was taken up with introducing the new routines and expectations, a bit of circle time, a bit of music in preparation for their online summer concert etc. Nice and gentle, very little structure, lots of chatting and catching up.
At the end of the day Year 2 were (very politely) complaining, "Can we have normal lessons tomorrow?" and, "Why didn't we do maths and English today? Can we do them tomorrow?" and even, "Can we do more work tomorrow?"
I had been so focused on the pastoral, I'd overlooked the one thing they really want: as much normality as possible. The reassuring routines of opening their books, writing the date, listening to a teacher, asking questions. The comforting structure of the school day.
On Friday we did a mental maths test and they CHEERED and then worked in total silence. We planned reports about Elizabeth I in English and investigated how plants change throughout the seasons in science. They worked their socks off and asked to carry on into circle time.
Obviously every setting is different so every teacher will do what's best for their class but I just thought I would share this observation from our first couple of days.
