Looking around at the anxieties created by Covid-19 as a psychologist, I am struck by the feeling that we might all need an extra dose of comfort and love to nourish us in the times ahead. As we ruminate on the possible impacts of the Coronavirus on so many aspects of our lives and those for who we care, uncertainty can be as great an impact on our mental health as whatever scenario eventually arrives. In essence, at some level, we just need to feel we are all going to come through this period intact and be OK, and the children are looking to us all for that reassurance.

Consequently, although we will provide a tranche of learning activities, projects, missions, tasks and assignments, please know that we also support you fully in setting aside any timetable, when you feel this is required. Although we may all be balancing the need to work, the approaching phase not only offers the chance to broaden our learning repertoire, but also to talk, laugh and cook together. To play board games – or computer games – and read and sit down for meals as a family. To learn how to design an app, play outside, watch a film together, embark on a virtual trip to a gallery, zoo or area of outstanding beauty. To take photos, plant trees, blow up the kitchen with a science experiment, bake, or just hunker down and do nothing for a while.

Please try not to worry excessively about how fast our children are progressing with their school work. We are certainly here to help and support you, but we will also meet the children’s needs, where they are when they come back to school and put in place whatever steps are necessary to bring each and every child back on track. It is what we do and we are very good at it.

Their experience of this time will live long in their memory, and they may well be recounting their stories of this part of their childhood to their own children. I would like to hope we can continue to work together to make their accounts about enjoyment, discovery and mutual support, rather than just a narrative about battling through adversity.

As with most adversities we face in life, I am sure we will emerge from the challenges we encounter with a fresh perspective on what is really important to our happiness and wellbeing.  For All Hallows, I strongly suspect we will also be compelled to develop a whole new set of skills and innovative practices that have the potential to make our school even more inventive, inspiring and effective.