Just across the road from my house there is a primary school. Over the past three weeks, I have been enjoying seeing the familiar sight of children accompanied by parents making their way to and from the school each day.
From the beginning of term, this has been an encouraging sight, a clear sign of some things returning to as normal a shape of life as is possible right now.
It is heartening seeing young children, in all their variety, making their way to school. Some run on ahead of parents, some skip as they go, others are quieter and walk along holding the hand of the parent or adult accompanying them.
Some children clearly have a lot to say, so they turn their heads upwards, telling whoever will listen what is in their minds. Some have new uniforms and new shoes. Nearly every child has a backpack, bright and colourful, and of a very good size. What do they have in these? Why do they need to be so big? A packed lunch does not require that much space, what else do they take into school each day?
The school had planned well for reopening (I had a look online), but even so, the new system of arrivals with the required social distancing took a few days to establish. On the first day, there were crowds gathered around the gates, but soon adults and children alike had learned how to line up down the street.
Now arrivals and departures are managed in a careful but relaxed manner. Some families arrive early, children eager to get into the building, others cut it fine, running down the street at the very last minute, so some things do not change.
During the day, as I am still mostly home working, I look across the street and wonder how everyone is doing. Are the children pleased to be together again? What is it like at playtime? Are the teachers coping with the new coronavirus-related school systems?
We rightly say that school years are critically important – through work and play, children are educated and formed for their lives ahead. Sometimes we speak of them entirely in terms of the future, but how children are supported and nurtured says much about the values of our society today.
We might long for good lives ahead for all of the children in Scotland, we want them to be happy, to be able to form healthy relationships, to find meaningful and rewarding employment, but none of these things just happens. For good to come for children as they learn and grow, proper care and education have to take place now.
No child has it easy. Just as each of the children attending the school across the road from me carries their own pack on their back, so too in life children have different challenges to carry. Each day they take into school with them those things that they need, but also some things which will hinder or challenge their learning and development.
Children vary in their abilities to learn, and their different personalities and ways of processing information will mean that no two children are the same. All the same, the teaching staff will be seeking to do their very best for each child.
This year, all of this is much more of a challenge. Learning for some children has become significantly more difficult. It is as though, because of the Covid-infected world, some children have had extra burdens placed on their backs. Some children are bringing things with them into school which will make learning very difficult.
Some carry with them malnourishment and living with food insecurity. Some carry with them the experience of bereavement, having lost a grandparent or parent during lockdown. Some carry the consequences of social isolation and of months of lost education that might never be caught up. Some carry the effect of living with increased fear and abuse at home. The result for many of our children is an increased fragility and the possibility of mental health problems.
All of these things will be clear to teachers right now. They will see before them children who are eager, energetic and ready to learn. And they will see others who are not doing so well, and will need extra support to enable them to recover lost ground of all kinds and catch up.
So the drive to get children back into school is only the beginning. The most important thing is what comes next.
Will there be sufficient resources to support children in all their needs? We speak about children being the future, but this future will only be good and positive if there is considerable investment in the present. Reducing the burdens on this generation of schoolchildren must be a priority for us all.
The Rt Rev Anne Dyer is Episcopalian Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney and Scotland’s first female bishop
