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Dear Headteacher... These letters and emails were written to a head teacher from a large east London primary school during the lockdown period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dear Headteacher, The impact of covid-19 was very stressful towards my mental health and I was very concerned about the drastic change in society. During the first week of lockdown, I was quite ill which made me feel weak and anxious. In that moment, there were many questions in my head:
I tried to find ways to occupy the children to keep them busy, which will make them happy in doing so such as poster-making, scrapbooking, etc. I started to re-organise the house with the kids by redecorating rooms and the garden shed, in which they contributed by providing various wonderful ideas. Anjeleena Ramgolaam (LSA -SEND)
• What will happen to my kids? • Who will look after them if anything happens to me? • What to tell or not tell my youngest child? • When will the schools open? • Will there be any changes in the news? Those questions would cause many sleepless nights. More often, I was feeling lonely as all the social interactions were decreased. As I am a sociable person I like to go out, meet friends and explore new places. For me not being able to do all my favourites things made me feel so down. During the pandemic, I went back to work after a month, and I felt happy that I am going to meet the children and the staff. But unfortunately, that day, I felt disheartened due to the school corridors being too quiet, the hub was empty, and the playground was lifeless. I felt quite emotional as I have never seen the school so empty and I missed the children’s vibrant noises. After couple of weeks, I felt better and was back on my feet. Both of my children were feeling quite disturbed as one was dealing with sleeping issues and the other was affected emotionally. I had to be strong and take care of both children. I chose to read a mindfulness book to help me cope mentally during the lockdown. I learnt various positive ways to change my attitude towards the pandemic and it helped me deal with difficult situations better.
Dear Headteacher, For me, lockdown has meant that for the first time in ages I have had the time needed to complete the admin type tasks that come with teaching, and so in a way has felt as though I have finally been given a chance to breathe and slow down, as well as get all my work done. My favourite time in the week is calling all the children in my class, not to discuss work necessarily but just to connect on a personal level, and away from the normal rush to fit everything into a weekly timetable, we can just talk to them and get to hear their thoughts and feelings – it brightens up lockdown immeasurably. The longer lockdown has lasted however, I have noticed a shift in the public’s perception of teachers and sadly feel as though once again teachers have been labelled as ‘lazy’ in response to voicing safety concerns about schools reopening. It feels as though no real thought has been given to the fact that yes, we do have a job to do and it just so happens that our job deals with real life little ones and so is extra important, but that we are humans too who are living through this pandemic alongside the rest of society and hold our own fears, difficult family situations and anxieties. Mia Bull, Teacher
