Page 53 - Issue 112 May-June 2021

Learning disabilities About the author Nicola Priddle is the assistant headteacher at Langside School based in Poole, Dorset. diverseabilities.org.uk @diverseabilitiesplus @diverseabilities 53 ■ The physical barrier of gloves and aprons. Limited space in school has made social distancing incredibly hard, while there are usually a maximum of seven children in a class, the number of adults we need to keep them safe means we are all working in close proximity to one another. PPE reduces this risk, but it was still worrying for staff and for the families of our pupils. Following the initial return to school, we were able to phase the return of more pupils in the summer term, and eventually welcomed everyone back in the autumn term. We have seen some pupils less engaged with adult interaction, and displaying reduced facial gazing, both of which could be a consequence of wearing masks. Some pupils try to remove our masks to see our faces when we are working closely with “Anxious about what the future holds” them. The physical barrier of gloves and aprons also impacts the changes in the way positive touch, for example tactile signing and massage, is delivered and experienced by our pupils. Returning to normal slowly One positive to come from this, is that we have seen a massive reduction in the transmissions of the viruses we would normally have experienced over the winter months and the number of chest infections and hospital admissions has also been positively affected. As we have similar settings to those in hospitals, we have thankfully been able to vaccinate our staff to further minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Being able to give a child the cuddle they are requesting and to relax in physical play together now and knowing there is not such a need to worry about close contact spreading the virus through parts of us not covered by gloves and aprons has brought a great sense of relief to our day to day processes. While the people and families we support will be anxious about what the future holds, and the return to normal will be at a slower pace than most, we are looking forward to giving those with tremendous difficulty communicating the ability to see our faces again, and receive physical contact without barriers. Those all-important routines will continue to be disrupted over the coming months as we progress towards the end of the pandemic, but we are all safe in the knowledge as SEN practitioners that we are all doing our utmost to ensure it is as trouble-free as possible for the children and young people we are supporting every day. ■ We all do our utmost. senmagazine.co.uk SEN112