While driving home from school on Friday i was thinking about this half term and remembering the first week back in September and what a long time ago it seemed! I remember a particular family at one of the schools as none of the children came in on the first day but all appeared cheerfully on the second day of term. The older children bring the younger ones to school and were genuinely surprised they had missed the first day. I remember one of them saying their mum didn’t know what day school started back so he had decided to bring himself and his siblings in on that day. I was struck at the time by how much chaos these children are living in all the time. They rarely have breakfast so are provided wirh it at school, never do homework and seldom have their PE kits, but again school is happy to provide. The youngest child came to class in just a tee shirt one day last week, a day when i had chosen to wear one of my warmer winter jumpers.
For these children, and unfortunately many others like them in our schools, schools are faced with trying to meet their basic needs for food, warmth and routine before they can even attempt to help them engage with their learning. The schools really do provide a safe base for these children and do an amazing job!