As the lockdown starts to be eased, from 1 June some young people in England will return to school for the first time in weeks. For all concerned this is an untested time – lockdown meant that children and their parents had little choice but to adapt to home schooling. Now further adaptation is required – as children and teachers adjust to social distancing measures in the classroom and the playground.

However, for some adopted and foster children just setting off for the return to school will take immense energy. Our members report that one unforeseen side-effect of lockdown and homeschooling is that for those families with an autistic child have found the past weeks less stressful than usual – with the usual daily environmental triggers removed, some of our children are finding home schooling very productive.

Given the unusual circumstances, it’s worth considering how it’s best for your child to return to school. We’d strongly advise talking it through with your child’s teacher and/or the school’s special educational needs coordinator (SENCO). If both are fully aware of your child’s needs they should be happy to tailor the first days and weeks of return to make it as smooth as it can be for your child. Among the measures you might like to consider are:

• Is there safety in numbers? Some children find the journey into school challenging, so may benefit from arriving earlier or later over the first few days. Others will prefer to journey in with their friends and be part of the school run.

• Phasing in a return to the classroom – starting in the classroom on the first day back may be hard for some children. Could they spend the first days in a library or quiet learning area instead?

• Accept an entire class may be overwhelming – Readjusting to the rhythms and requirements of a lesson may be difficult if your child’s grown accustomed to homeschooling. Instead of focusing on the length of time your child can sit through a lesson, praise them for what they achieve while they’re in it.

• Care needs to be taken not to overwhelm a child if they fell behind while learning from home. Not all work can be caught up on in the limited time before the summer break and working with your child’s school can help both your family and the school construct a realistic workload to achieve the most possible.

• Develop a practical way for your child to apply social distancing when they are by themselves. Some of our children struggle with understanding others’ personal space – so using a simple phrase to apply to social distancing will help them to remember to apply it.
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