Family Early Help
School Return Autumn Term 2021 (September 2021)
All schools have been issued with new guidance about COVID now that social restrictions have been largely lifted in England. You can find the latest government guidance here
In summary:
- young people under 18 no longer have to self isolate if they are a close contact of someone with COVID, but should take a PCR test
- NHS Test and Trace will let you know if your child has been in close contact with someone with COVID (not school)
- face coverings are no longer required, although some schools may opt to continue with them and may be advised by local Public Health to do so
Camden and Islington Public Health have also produced a 'Return to School After Summer 2021' booklet for parents which you can find here
School Return After Third Lockdown - Resource Pack
This resource and activity pack from Phoenix Education might be helpful if you are working with children who are feeling anxious about returning to school after lockdown (below is one example page) and more information here https://www.thereintroductionhub.com/
Talking with Parents About School Attendance
The Department for Education have produced a toolkit to help support social workers and family workers with conversations about attending school, college, early years and childcare settings.
You can find the toolkit here:
We would recommend also looking at the Emotionally Based School Avoidance section of the Guidebook here, which may help with emotionally-attuned conversations that enable the child to explore their feelings about school, not just on attendance compliance:
OLD INFORMATION - LEFT HERE FOR REFERENCE ONLY
Attending School During Second Lockdown (from 5 November 2020)
The Government says most children should attend school or their educational setting, and childcare during the second lockdown.
Children whose doctors have confirmed they are still clinically extremely vulnerable are advised not to attend education whilst the national restrictions are in place. Schools will make appropriate arrangements to enable them to continue their education at home.
You can read more about this here:
Children who live with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable, but who are not clinically extremely vulnerable themselves, should still attend education or childcare. You can read more about that here:
Government Guidance for Parents on Schools Re-Opening (June 2020)
This is the government guidance issued 11 May 2020 (and updated 2 June and 18 June 2020) for parents and carers, about the plans to reopen schools for some year groups from 1 June.
Please do advise parents to contact their childs school for more detailed information, as every school setting will be approaching this differently
Booklet for Parents from Public Health About Return to School
Camden and Islington Public Health have produced a booklet for parents who have children returning to school, to help answer some of the questions they may have
Here is a link
Lenny and Lily Return to School Wordless Story Book (Primary Age)
Lenny and Lily in Lockdown and Lenny and Lily Return to School will help children make sense of their experiences during the coronavirus pandemic, communicate their feelings and prepare for more change as they go back to the classroom. As the stories are told in pictures alone, it is not necessary for children to be able to read words to enjoy them.
You can find the books here https://booksbeyondwords.co.uk/lenny-and-lily-childrens-stories
Kooth Back to School - Looking After Yourself Booklet (Secondary Age)
Kooth have produced a short booklet aimed at secondary school age students to help support their return to school.
Kooth Return to School Booklet
