Nursery World - Children’s well-being a focus as many return for first time

As thousands of children return to their early years setting for the first time since lockdown in March, how have they responded to the crisis and how has their well-being been affected?

Children have settled well at Brougham Street Nursery School

From speaking to nurseries, the signs so far are good, with children glad to be back and new starters settling in well.

Becky Dolamore, head of Rachel Keeling Nursery School in Bethnal Green, east London, said, ‘Children are happy to be in, exploring and playing.’

Those who were due to start in April, but couldn’t because of the Covid pandemic, have settled well, which Ms Dolamore thought may be because they are a few months older than their usual starting points.

The nursery school has staggered the start of new children and observed their health and well-being. Speaking about planning the return, Ms Dolamore said, ‘We’ve been very focused – some children have had limits to outdoor space, fewer opportunities to socialise, or their families may have experienced loss of income or family breakdown. There were concerns that some families may have been misinformed [about the pandemic], or have a lot of fear that may have a knock-on effect on children’s learning.’

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