Educators urged to go easy on kids returning to class after lockdown

After months of remote learning during lockdown, experts worry youngsters being pushed to catch up will risk damaging their social skills.

Olivia Grampsas was really worried about her son Jonathan’s development in lockdown. Picture: Tony Gough

Experts fear educators will focus too much on trying to catch children up on missed academic time they will jeopardise important social skills.

After months of absence from the classroom during lockdown, academics worry youngsters and students will have the curriculum “stuffed” into them at a time children’s social and emotional connections have declined.

Monash University lecturer in global leadership and policy Dr Fiona Longmuir said lockdown made people realise “just how important schools are as a social site”.

“The things kids can’t get online is learning to be together, that sense of belonging,” she said.

Professor Janet Clinton, deputy dean of Melbourne University’s Graduate School of Education said after 100 days of lockdown “everyone got out of the habit of socialising on a face-to-face way comfortably”.

“Knowing how to have friends, that social engagement, social self-awareness, is crucial.”

Prof Clinton said “habits form quite quickly” and expected next year to be “quite stressful”.

“We need to give kids time to recover, to develop a new habit,” she said.

Olivia Grampsas and her son, Jonathan, 16 months. Picture: Tony Gough

Her biggest worry was if schools put pressure on kids to raise their literacy and numeracy quickly to make up for lost time in the classroom.

A PwC Australia report into the impact of COVID-19 on education says the pandemic will have lasting effects on schools and students.

“It will be some time before we know the full impact of the disruption on learning outcomes, but early indications from global studies suggest that it will be students from disadvantaged backgrounds who suffer disproportionately,” the report says.

Mum Olivia Grampsas expects we may call the lockdown era of Victorian kids the “COVID generation”.

In the midst of September lockdown, Mrs Grampsas signed her 16-month-old son Jonathan up to a weekly G8 Education session so he’d have the chance to see another child.

“I was really worried about his development,” she said.

“He doesn’t have siblings; I wanted him to learn how to share his toys — kids learn off each other.”

Jonathan had become wary around people.

“I’ve seen other children now who are actively scared of people — I’m really lucky my child is still sociable,” she said.

“Our kids are all going to be the COVID generation: ‘What’s with your child? ‘Oh he’s just a bit socially challenged, a bit developmentally challenged — the COVID generation.”

Dr Longmuir praised the Victorian government’s announcement of tutors to help one in five school students boost academic skills, but noted a trend towards literacy and numeracy over creative and physical classes.

She hoped students wouldn’t be “pulled out of art or woodwork or sport to do more of what they struggle with”.

“We’ve got to understand that kids need all those experiences,” she said.

G8 Education area manager Annie Jorgensen said some children had returned to services shy, but were bouncing back. A study conducted by the organisation found two in five parents reported their child aged under five had been more anxious since the start of lockdown.

“I think it’s going to take a long time for people to recover — we just need to make the services fun and engaging.”

Prof Clinton agreed.

“It’s time to bring the fun back into learning,” she said.

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