Nursery World - Catching up to what?

Education is not a race, and children need quality time invested in them, says our columnist Michael Pettavel

Michael Pettavel: 'There is no national strategy to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the youngest'

Well, here we are, a year into the most disrupted period in education in living memory. As we begin to edge our way out of the restrictions that have dominated our lives for so long, prepare yourself for a new lexicon of terms and approaches that aim to try to make sense of the world children now find themselves in. Catch-up is the one currently in vogue.

In the early years we are probably most aware of the range of starting points. As all children have had a disrupted school year, the question should not be ‘When will they catch up?’ but ‘Are we meeting their needs?’. The impact of coronavirus, in a world already beset by a mental health crisis (perhaps amplified by social media), would be best mitigated by ensuring children have the time to physically ‘belong’.

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