Lockdown two has now officially started across the United Kingdom and it has allowed me time to reflect on how returning to school has been since September. If someone had mentioned I would be a Year Manager of Year 10’s when I was younger, I would never have expected this. But I thoroughly enjoy supporting all the students daily giving them someone to listen to and support them with decisions that they might not have a role model to ask. When I left working with primary school children to join a large secondary school, I was incredibly nervous. I have loved the challenge of supporting older students and getting to know them.
Returning back to an office and a large school building after such a long number of months closed was daunting and I did feel uneasy. There were a lot of new rules and policies to put in place and we were unsure of how the students would take them. There were also new rules for staff to follow quickly and I had a new manager. The office and building were empty and quite eerie from the amount of time it had been closed. I did feel lucky however that I had the opportunity to return and set about making a new wall display for my office.
The fact we had gone through a long lockdown was difficult for everyone in different ways. But at school amongst us all and when in the staff room it seemed a subject that no one wanted to discuss. Daily we hear the news and are told updates to make sure we are following guidelines, but it is still a difficult subject to discuss at work. I feel as it is not spoken about it is easy to forget how people are feeling or if individuals are struggling at work with added anxiety.
Mental health in Key Stage Four has hit rock bottom. I ask myself could this be because it has become a subject that is discussed more openly so people feel they may have the symptoms. Or maybe it is usual for teenagers to feel stressed and overwhelmed with GCSE topics starting and the start of adolescence. It is clear to see that lockdown has not helped and has contributed to students feeling very alone during that period. Some students are suffering from a feeling of being ‘behind’ and a sense of ‘loss’ for the months that were missed out of school. Other students feel unsure about what friends they will be coming back to, and others feel conscious that teachers would have forgotten them.
It has been noticeably clear that lockdown at home was also difficult for students that use school to escape the reality of home. Others use the school as routine and teachers/staff as their role models in their lives so without them they lost boundaries. I have come back to find students aged fifteen and sixteen struggling to enter new friendship groups outside of school to escape. Or others so overwhelmed with the time off that they find coming into school fills them with anxiety. I have others that physically collapse in class or around the school as they cannot deal with the impact home has caused during this time. It has resulted in me speaking to paramedics weekly and knowing mental health professionals by their first name.
I will continue to support these students as best I can to try to make them feel supported. Yet I still cannot help thinking more needs to be done to help them. There are limits and they need professionals to sit with. There are a minimal number professionals available that can help and limited hours they can offer. It has been great that students can speak out to adults that they might need support with mental health – but where do they go to get help? Since arriving back at school there is more expected from each role and jobs cross over a lot – more hours are expected, and we are to continue during another lockdown. Schools need extra support and children need more resources available to them to support students with.
It has been exceedingly difficult speaking with students and young people daily that feel they want to self-harm or do not want to be with us anymore. Some are students that prior to lockdown I was not meeting with at all. It has become gradually more challenging to handle these topics of conversation or speaking through parental/family worries when we return home with no one to offload on. I luckily have a supportive partner to speak through some areas with however as most are safeguarding it does not allow to pass this information on outside of the school. It becomes difficult to switch off from these concerns when at home as naturally as people we want to support these young people and went into the role to try to make a difference.
Starting another lockdown period has added further upset to young individuals and added stress that school will close again. Students can ask us questions each day, but we are unable to supply them with answers. It is exceedingly difficult to explain to students that they can study each day in classrooms but are not allowed to attend rehearsals to dance or attend a football match that had been scheduled. It has become difficult for students to have the same opportunities they once would have been offered. Teachers and staff are working hard to find new ways and be creative to make sure young people are given access to facilities and given opportunities to be motivated to work towards.
During the first lockdown, it was difficult for parents to be at home and try to home educate any of their children. It was particularly hard for them to juggle their child’s education and their job from home. It has also been challenging for individual parents or people to work from home every day and be in the same room all day every week blurring the lines. Individuals have struggled with routine and been finding it hard to manage their own wellbeing. This has resulted in a stressful household or a difficult time at home for any students to be in. It has also resulted in individuals feeling stressed and anxious which have led to phone conversations at work being tense. Parents have a lot of pressure to support their families and do not have the answers they are looking for. Unfortunately, it can mean when parents call or need answers from teachers or staff they are frustrated already.
Now we enter our second lockdown we need to remember when we speak to individuals that we do not know how they are feeling. We need to remember individuals are doing their best and it might not always meet our expectations. We need to check in with everyone as people alone might be lonely or people that are with others may be also struggling. We need to remember to be kind to ourselves as some days we might not feel like we can tackle everything and even get into work is an achievement for the day. I applaud anyone working on the front line during these difficult time and I hope everyone I know looks after themselves. Please do reach out if you need a hand.
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