In March 2020 the United Kingdom really started to panic as the first death of Coronavirus was confirmed in the UK. Although we were hearing news of the virus from February, it only became certain that we are facing a global pandemic in March. The number of COVID cases were rising every day, people were panic buying at the supermarkets and very quickly the nation came to a halt.
I remember thinking “I’ve watched a lot of films on Zombie Apocalypses, I think I have the skills to survive this!”
On the 18th March the Government announced that all schools in the country will be shut from the afternoon on Friday. The only staff that needed to work were those looking after children of key workers and vulnerable children. In a time of uncertainty Junior Jam were with us every step of the way! Some of us were able to continue working.It has been a very interesting time to work with children at schools. As a person that children look up to 6hrs a day meant that my colleagues and I had to adapt very quickly to make the environment seem and feel as normal as possible.
As we had small groups which were given the name “bubbles”, we treated the lessons more as a summer school. A day packed with fun, engaging activities as well as teaching music, media, PE and French. By the second week of working in “bubbles” we had a routine of busy mornings learning and exercise and the afternoons were for activities, arts and crafts. Some activities included, body combat, yoga, designing our own Key Worker superhero’s, a science project using pepper and glitter to demonstrate germs, making a carboard Eiffel Tower and designing and sewing our own pillowcases!
The best thing about working in bubbles has been spending quality time with the children. We’ve had the time to learn about who they are, what their interest are and who they want to be. It’s impossible to have those conversations in the usual environment in a classroom of 30 children for an hour! I am honoured to hold the position of team leader for the West Midlands and I am very proud to say that the West Mids has an amazing team! I wouldn’t want to leave any one out and list names but to everyone who worked during the pandemic: “Thank you! You have all been amazing! You’ve stayed consistent, creative with your lessons and a pleasure to work with!”
The year 2020 has taken everybody by surprise but it has been so rewarding to work during this crazy time.
Stay safe everyone and don’t forget to wash your hands!
- Adele