On the eve of Children's Mental Health Week (which should be every week, but that's a different conversation), it is worth considering whether children are at the forefront of decision making (children generally, and then their mental health).
Sometimes ideas and buzz-words...
are thrown around like confetti, with seemingly no consideration for the long term consequences of these ideas. There are obviously some 'experts' who are able to solve the world's problems with a tweet, a blog or a new book - although I'm unsure of what makes them an expert...
in something that nobody has ever experienced before.
It is kind, generous and understandable that everyone wants to come up with solutions (I ponder things myself every day), but it isn't kind to allow ego to pretend that you actually know what will make everything OK, when...
you clearly don't.
Examples of this are endless, so I'll just name a few:

'Catch up' - Be it a Summer catch up, specialist tutors (not even sure who they are) - who the hell are the children supposed to be catching up with? Are these bright ideas still based on some age...
criteria and educational norm that has never been attainable, and now that someone has moved the goal posts out of sight and underwater, they're not going to become any more attainable with some Summer club (who, by the way, only some would attend).
Repeat the year - to what...
end? Whatever we do for the children on their return, does it make a difference what year group we call it? I genuinely have respect for people who want to look at the curriculum with a fresh pair of eyes, and want to see where learning might need to be shifted, so that we...
aren't all trying to catch up with the imaginary guy at the front. However, what do we have to gain by holding everyone back - haven't they had their lives on pause for long enough already?
Schools are open -obviously I get the defensive need to shout from the rooftops...
that we are still working, when there are journalists and angry Twitter/Facebook/Community forum/Smiley faced groups who like to suggest that teachers are curled up in bed with a cocoa and the Communist Manifesto, refusing to work to protect themselves and their leftie rights...
to swerve work at any cost. But what does our shouting do for the children and families who cannot come in to our 'open school'. I know it is hard not to bite back, but school is closed to many, so should we focus our energy on providing them with as many opportunities for...
teaching, learning, stories, exercise, communication, support, interaction and love as we can.

Which leads nicely onto Remote Learning - not 'home schooling' by the way, as it is not the same thing. I and my colleagues have been trying a number of different things, some work...
some don't. Some are more successful for certain teachers than others. Some are more accessible for some children than others. So we try to get a balance. This acceptance that everyone is different and so are their circumstances, I think, really helps. Acceptance and...
understanding of difference definitely helps children to develop as individuals in normal times (yes, I hate that expression too). I am assuming that all of those values are still important, but I must admit that I am fumbling around in the dark.
I love when people share what...
they have been doing, as we can all do with as many ideas and shared successes as we can right now, so that we can reach every child, but...

Who are these 'experts' in this situation, who tell us to deliver live, recorded, from our classrooms or kitchens, camera on or off?..
Which previous global pandemic did they develop their expertise in, and are their ideas based on evidence that children will thrive healthily without any lasting mental scars; or do they just like the sound of their own voice?

There are so many other things, but this is me...
not being on Twitter (a completely different issue that I might need my own mental help with), but this rant isn't supporting the mental health of children either.
I don't have the answers.
I'm not an expert.
I don't know how to access children remotely on a tech free day...
I don't know how to close the gap (but I do acknowledge honestly that it was already there).
I don't know which platform is better.
I don't know when we'll reopen (yes, I know we're not closed).
There are so many things that I don't know.

But I do know that arguing about it...
isn't going to help children get through this unscarred.
We can admit what we don't know. We can be vulnerable while being supportive...
Or we can pretend that we have all the answers (even write an Ed-Bible on the subject) whilst completely forgetting about the children...
By the way, you can trample your size 10s all over this and shout your expert heads off as much as you like, because I'm not really here ♥ 🙏

ps. to my Twitter friends, Sunday eggs will resume when my mind is less scrambled.
You can follow @MissSBMP.
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