Lara Péchard, Head at St Margaret?s School in Hertfordshire, considers the constraints of home-working on students? mental wellbeing
Schools routinely play an important role in helping both families and pupils with advice and support around mental health and wellbeing. Add to this the intensity and rapid change that the Covid-19 lockdown has brought upon us and there is, on top of the obvious, even more for parents to worry about when it comes to health and wellness.
Among those most impacted are children whose parents are key workers on the front line. There are such varied, worthy contributions from parents across the school community that many schools are keen to highlight and showcase these in order to celebrate what is being done to combat the illness and to model these parents? sense of service to pupils. These care workers, medics and scientists are coming into daily contact with Covid-19 and for their children the uncertainties of the time are intensified as they confront the possibility of their parents becoming ill or worse. This is disorientating for anyone but for children it is possibly the first time the notion of their parent?s mortality has crossed their mind. The impact of significant media coverage has also had a real part to play here, as it has ? quite rightly ? been actively telling the stories of health care workers that have been killed by the illness.
Above, getting out in the great outdoors has so many benefits for children
Positivity and Balance
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