Strange changes to school life could frighten returning pupils

CHILDREN are at risk of anxiety and nightmares from experiencing the “new normal” at schools, a former government adviser has warned.

If procedures that are now in place at schools – such as temperature checks at the gates and one-way corridors – are not communicated properly, pupils could be left feeling “frightened and upset”. Prof Colin Diamond, an expert in education leadership at Birmingham University, said that the new classroom set-up will “look and feel a bit strange”, but added that teachers will be able to help them adapt.

This week, children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 returned for the first time in ten weeks. Many schools have removed soft furnishings and banned cuddly toys, in line with government advice.

Staff at the Harris Federation, a multi-academy trust which runs 22 primaries in and around London, are checking children’s temperatures as they arrive and sending them home if it is above 38C (100.4F).

“If plans are not communicated properly, there is definitely a risk of anxiety, children having bad dreams and nightmares,” Prof Diamond told The Daily Telegraph. “It can be scary, but teachers can help children understand why it is all a bit strange, frightening and upsetting.”

Prof Diamond has previously criticised official advice which states that schools and nurseries should “remove soft furnishings, soft toys and toys that are hard to clean”. He said that this

“feels cruel”, adding: “This illustrates the absurdity of trying to introduce a safe regime which has to be socially distant. Children need to have cuddly toys and to relax on cushions.”

Ministers have been urged not to drop their efforts to get all primary pupils back to school before the holidays.

This week, it emerged that plans for all primary school children to have a month of school before the summer break was under review, following warnings from head teachers and governors that it would be “logistically impossible” to achieve. But Anne

Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, said the Government “should not relax attempts to get schools working again, as safely as possible, for as many children as possible”.

She added: “If we can build confidence, reassure over the coming weeks, hopefully for increasing numbers of primary-age schoolchildren the social interaction, learning, play and well-being they’ve missed out on can be back in place.”

Leigh Middleton, chief executive of the National Youth Agency, added that ministers “should be concentrating on getting our most vulnerable children” back to school.

School closures have led to concerns that drug gangs are recruiting teenage girls who are less “visible” than young men during lockdown, a report by the NYA has warned.

A study by the Education Endowment Foundation found that closures are likely to reverse a decade of progress in closing the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils.

Arboretum Primary School in Derby was forced to temporarily close after seven staff tested positive for Covid-19.