An integral feature of the covid-19 crisis is that of anxiety. We are living through a time of immense sadness and great uncertainty where many of our usual strategies for maintaining personal well-being have, to some extent or other, been thrown into disarray. Though we each have our unique response to a global health crisis, anxiety is one that prevails when faced with so many unknowns.
Early years practitioners, irrespective of their commitment to young children and their families, are not immune to this. Throughout the period of lockdown in settings where a core number of children and staff were on a rota system, many headteacher and managers were faced with a situation where some practitioners felt unable to work due to their anxiety levels, some requesting unpaid leave and others taking doctor’s advice to take time off.
In recent weeks we have been inundated with controversy about the reopening of schools. Opinions have been at full strength – many arguing that reopening will put staff and families at risk and invite a second peak of the virus, others emphasising the need for children to get back to school where they are safe and can reclaim some continuity and consistency in their lives. Not surprisingly, the inherent unknowns implicit to either scenario have exacerbated nervousness for many practitioners.
Alex Law, head teacher of Harry Roberts Nursery School in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, where the majority of her families and staff are of Bangladeshi origin, has multiple anxieties about her current situation. 'I feel immense pressure, more than I ever have had as a head teacher, to make very significant decisions about people’s lives,' she says. 'It is causing me stress that I cannot have more children in school for a range of reasons, including family choices not to send their children in, lack of staff capacity and inadequate space for the necessary adjustment. This is terribly difficult as I feel a huge sense of social justice and public duty to help the children and families more, and to ensure we have key workers able to come to work.'
Alex and her staff have felt less than confident in the Government’s guidance, which they consider to be unclear at best and contradictory at worse. 'On the one hand, we are told to reopen, but not to use public transport. This has left the staff feeling confused and worried.'
Many headteachers and managers are faced with a catch-22-like situation. They are anxious about having more children returning. Yet the alternative, of children being stuck at home, is also making them anxious.
Anxieties arising from more children returning
The causes of practitioners' anxiety are many and varied:
- In many areas of the country where there is a diverse ethnic population, many practitioners live with their extended family, so worry that older and vulnerable family members will catch the virus. The sobering fact that BAME people are more likely to catch the virus has, of course, has intensified this. The majority of staff in some settings are in the BAME group.
- The necessity for a stringent cleaning protocol, in itself, can trigger feelings of anxiety. It serves as a constant reminder of the virus and its gravity.
- Social distancing, as well as staying at home, has been engrained in us since March as the measure to take in avoiding a spread of the virus. However, early years practice makes social distancing, as we have come to know it, impossible.
- There are still too many unknowns about young children and the virus. What if a child were to become ill during their time at nursery? Though procedures will be in place for such an occurrence, it is still anxiety provoking for the staff.
- Not having enough building and outdoor space to cater for a lot of children in bubbles and maintain an adequate level of social distancing.
- Witnessing other countries taking very different approaches is disconcerting to staff.
- Staff who have kept coming into work can feel let down by colleagues who are anxiously staying at home. They can feel like they are taking risks with their own health, whilst others stay safely at home
Anxieties arising if more children do not return
On the other hand, if settings do not open to larger numbers of children, a different set of concerns arise:
- The well-being of children and families at home, including the possible increase in domestic abuse, mental health difficulties and other safeguarding issues.
- Social inequalities are extenuated – children living in disadvantaged circumstances (some in poverty) have little or no space to play at home and nothing to play with.
- Staff feeling pressure and inadequacy when other schools are able to open more fully.
On top of this, there are additional stresses and anxieties experienced by managers and practitioners, irrespective of whether the setting is open or not: the impact on families who have hit more financial hardship, many losing their jobs; families experiencing problems with the Free School Meals scheme and needing help with accessing the vouchers; worries about the financial impact on the future of Nursery Schools – will the schools that have a smaller staff capacity and therefore fewer children attending be considered superfluous?
While some of bigger questions are unanswerable and, seemingly, insurmountable there are things that can be done to support practitioners with their anxiety.
Alleviating the anxiety and stress of practitioners
Elizabeth (Beth) Oliver and Naomi Hillman, owners and managers of Wood Street Nursery in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, have invested a huge amount of work into supporting their staff throughout lockdown and for their recent reopening. The nursery was closed for April and May, when staff were furloughed, and reopening began on 1 June. Staff considered to be at higher risk remain on furlough.
In terms of looking after their staff, regular interaction with the team has been key. Beth says, 'We have communicated with our staff team via email, phone and zoom to keep them updated whilst on furlough, and to explain to them our plans for reopening. This has enabled us to keep in touch with how they were feeling throughout.'
The staff have been kept in the loop at all stages and encouraged to speak about any concerns and anxieties, enabling them to be addressed and contained wherever possible. One of the major concerns about reopening has been the issue of using public transport. In response to this, Naomi and Beth offered the bike-buying scheme to staff, as well as exploring various options for individual staff for travelling to and from work.
A Covid training day was held prior to reopening, where Naomi and Beth explained thoroughly why and how they thought it would be safe to reopen and were able to answer individual questions and help to reduce any concerns. Beth continues, 'We read a lot of research from "behind the scenes", so that we had some knowledge of the scientific thinking behind the Government’s decision to reopen nurseries and schools. This helped us to assess how safe it would be for both children and staff, and to only go ahead with what we felt confident with. Though the staff have some of the inevitable and understandable concerns, they have been very positive about returning to work.'
As would be expected, there have been substantial operational changes for the nursery, both in terms of the physical set up and its day to day running. Reopening, then, has been very gradual so that staff have had time to get used to a very new way of working, and been able to practise new protocols before all the children return.
Beth’s and Naomi’s current anxiety is financial. 'We lost £1,000 a month during closure, and will lose much more (projected £4,000) in June as we continue to reopen gradually and give both staff and children time to settle back in without too much stress and upset. We felt strongly it was essential to prioritise the health, safety and well-being of our nursery team and children over money, but it is a huge worry. Although our numbers increase in July, I am not confident that we will break even by then.'
It seems, then, that looking after one’s staff and offering reassurance and guidance is imperative at this time. Being confident about reopening and carefully preparing the staff is key. This involves sharing good practice with colleagues in order to pull together in creating unprecedented models of early years practice.
Alex Law has noticed that, 'Once staff are actually back working with the children, they begin to nurture and relate to them as before.' Old habits die hard, in a good way!
