Learnings from Educating during a Pandemic
Just like us all, I have learned so much from educating and leading a school community during this pandemic and offer to share with you some of my insights and learnings from this time that have really helped shape me as a school leader.
Don’t Get Caught Up: I must admit to getting a little caught up, or maybe a lot caught up as my favourite part of the day was 11am, waiting for Gladys to let me know what was going on, what the next few weeks might look like and how my weekend might play out. However, in the beginning, middle and the end, the focus should always be on our Core Business. This will all be over, hopefully sooner rather than later. Ask yourself as an educator, how did I react? Did I get caught up in all the hype or did I focus on what our Core Business is. Did I, whilst attending to the health and safety of our school, really look at the big picture and keep Learning, Teaching and wellbeing at the forefront? It is easy to get caught up, but if you can, stay out of the craziness of it all and focus on what we are here to do. Our kids look to us to be the ones that have it altogether, even if our little legs are swimming so fast just to stay above it all.
Don’t Get Caught Out: I never turned anyone away during this time and never judged why a child turned up face to face. It was not for me to be judge and jury on who is essential and not. Never questioned whether a family was consistent with their RATs or not. I was not going to waste any time or emotion on this. It seemed we had more than our fair share of kids face to face when schools were closed, but my staff and I knew that through our safe practice, this was the best place for our kids. It would be a little difficult to try and now chase up a child’s attendance when things go back to ‘normal’ if we turned them away during this time. We need to be so careful saying school is the best place for our kids, if we are not going to welcome them with open arms at every opportunity.
I have found that transparent communication and openly sharing as much as we can, very much helps keep the parental community satisfied and at bay, even if what we are saying may not be to everyone's liking.
Look for Opportunity: We attempted to make this time fun and exciting for our kids and families. I made some crazy and fun Facebook videos and created principal challenges to give our kids something engaging to keep them going. The point of this was to show our community that we were not worried about what was going on and to continue to connect myself and our school to the community. Here are a few examples;
https://www.facebook.com/stmarysprimarycasino/videos/890536798057919
https://www.facebook.com/stmarysprimarycasino/videos/208850850400472/
https://www.facebook.com/stmarysprimarycasino/videos/2775207545909910/
https://www.facebook.com/stmarysprimarycasino/videos/576915470319888
https://www.facebook.com/john.obrien.1610/videos/206863461459855
We also looked for learning opportunities. For those 180 kids or so turning up each day we did extra reading and writing at school with them. When the others turned back up we flipped it and gave them the greater focus. Our kids' results in reading and writing have not suffered due to this.
Allow Kids to Be Kids: We not only need to protect the physical health but also the mental health of our kids, safeguarding against the virus but also from the fear that can paralyze many, especially our kids. This time can also be very divisive amongst a school community. Kids don’t need to know about Covid, Vaccinations etc. at this time at school. They get enough from it all over the place. I heard every opinion, some quite strongly from my parental community regarding masks, vaccinations, school closures etc. etc. but in the end our kids don’t need us to be discussing any of it. Our job is to keep our focus on what matters and allow our kids to be free from it all and to just be kids.
Love Yourself: And finally, I realise how much I now need to look after myself. Like you, I am exhausted and a little over it. My energy levels have been hit for 6! I’m not sure if I am coming or going. Now more than ever we need to look after us and put ourselves and our families as a priority. We give so much to others so freely and lovingly; we need to continue this but it is now time that we give the same beautiful care to ourselves.