Welcome back readers ðŸ˜Š

I hope you have all been having a lovely, restful and safe summer break, no matter what your weather preferences (I certainly was not wishing for the rain as much as others, and definitely enjoying today’s sunshine!). Although not a normal summer by far, I’ve been able to enjoy spending time with my nieces and nephews, including finally meeting my newest niece born in lockdown. As I focussed on making lockdown as productive as could be in the spring months, I’ve definitely also enjoyed a period of rest in the summer months. As I’m sure many have said, it’s all about balance!

As we near the end of summer, many adults are preparing to send their children back to school. Whilst my sister usually can’t wait to send my niece Yusra back to school each year, this year, as expected, she is more anxious than usual. Many children are usually raring to go back and see their friends after a long summer, but this time Yusra is worried about what she can and can’t do at school. And let’s not forget the teachers who are usually ready welcome hundreds of students, yet my friend Savannah doing her TeachFirst placement this year is more worried about how she’s going to stop the spread of coronavirus, than how her lesson plans are going to go… 

After hearing these stories from close friends and family members, it didn’t surprise me to head to twitter and see many sharing the same concerns. But I also saw many resources bouncing about too! So I decided to gather some of these resources and put them in one place, in the hope of reassuring and preparing readers, so they can be more confident for back to school next week.

So without further ado, here are some positive resources to start your week as you mean to go on, making the most of Monday:

For everyone

The Mental Health Foundation has produced a series of guides to support all groups back to school, including pupils, parents and carers and teachers and school leaders.

For Parents and Carers

Young Minds have produced a webpage with several tips for supporting a child in the transition back to school life, including links to more resources.

The Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, in conjunction with Manchester Local Care organisation and One Education have produced a 'Parent Pack' help parents and carers manage childrens’ emotions, provide strategies and tips to support their transition back into school life, and to explore how to maintain your own wellbeing. 

For Children and Young People

Safety Net has produced a series of E-Zine’s by children and young people themselves. The 3rd Edition, titled Sussing Out School, is all about what to expect in the new normal, and tips and techniques on how to cope with these changes. 

The Children’s Commissioner has also produced guide for children to prepare them for some of the changes they might see when they go back to school this September, as well as providing tips on how to cope if they’re feeling worried or nervous, and helpful resources to stay safe.

For Teachers

Place2Be has put together a series of resources focused on community recovery, to help headteachers and school staff start to bring their schools back together following recent challenging times. 

The National Autistic Society has produced a guide for school leaders, teachers and teaching assistants to help prepare for and manage the transition back to school for autistic pupils.

In the works

The phoenix group, is developing the Reintroduction Hub to help ensure the many different characters in each classroom get the support they need to return to school happily and healthily. Not only do they have resources to assist schools and local authorities, they have information packs available for parents too. I'm interested to see the development of this hub and think it will be a great resource!

That’s it from me, I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of #MaketheMostofMonday. If you enjoyed reading this blog and want to share something for future editions, please drop me a line at [email protected] or tweet/DM. In the meantime, I hope you have a lovely rest of your week, stay safe, and stay positive ðŸ˜Š