Post #19 Using a Social Story to prepare your child for going back to school
Lots of us are thinking about when schools reopen. Whilst we are not yet aware of the details of when/how this will be, it is important to start thinking about how to prepare our children. This post provides an example of a Social Story to illustrate how the approach can be used to prepare your child for another big change!
Social Story to prepare your child for going back to school.We are still waiting to hear details about when schools will open and we know that not all children will be going back to school at the same time. I am posting this now to illustrate how a Social Story might be used to prepare your child.
This Social Story is written for primary aged children, however it can be adapted for younger and older children. As it is, this Social Story may be too lengthy and includes a lot of information. Some children will cope with the full information in one story, so I have suggested where page breaks could be – but this must depend on the individual. For many children this will be too much information, in which case you might present it as a series, so each section becomes its own short Social Story. You may also need to change some vocabulary, depending on your child’s understanding and expressive language.
I have included information that I think will be important to children, but YOU know your child best and may wish to add/delete content according to your child. The main areas I have covered: who is going to school and when; which friends will be at school; staff wearing PPE and social distancing; how school will let children know when they can go to school; how children might feel and who they can go to tell worries or ask questions; final point that the school will be open to everyone eventually.
I have left some blanks where I do not have the information, including name of school, what PPE staff may be wearing and details about which lessons will be going ahead.
Personalisation - visual cues to add will depend on individuals. Symbols will be helpful for some children (if your child uses symbols at school, you might ask school to add symbols to this story, I have not added them as different schools may use different symbols). You might also consider personalising the story with pictures/photos, for example of staff wearing PPE. Personalise the story by adding friends’ names/pictures. Include a picture that shows safe distancing e.g., in the classroom, in the playground (ask your child’s school for information about this). For children who use schedules, include a picture to remind them what their schedule looks like at school. Encourage your child to draw pictures so the story belongs to them.
For those familiar with the Social Story approach, note this story does not include any directives sentences - it is about preparing for an event, so is comprised of descriptive sentences. This Social Story (or series of shorter stories) is a starting point for preparing your child for going back to school. Further Social Stories may be useful for your child, depending upon their needs. Social Stories can be used alongside other strategies to prepare your child and I will post examples of these as we learn more about when/how children will be returning to school.
Example 1
Getting ready to go back to school.
A story for
_______________________________________.
Page 1
_________
School is closed because of a virus
which makes people ill. Children have been learning at home while they can’t
go to school. I have been learning at home. (you could add siblings name here where appropriate).
Lots
of people are feeling better now because the doctors and nurses have worked
hard. Soon schools will open. Soon my school will open.
Page 2
When
schools open, some children will go to school and some children will learn at
home. Children will go to school on different days, some will go in the
morning and some will go in the afternoon. This is ok, because schools will be keeping children safe.
My
school will open on _______. My school
will let children and parents know when they will open. My school will open
for SOME children. My school will let us know when we can go to school. I
might go to school or I might keep learning at home or I might do both.
Page 3
When
I go back to school I will see some of my friends. Some of my friends will be
learning at home, so I will not see them at school yet. This helps us all to
keep safe.
When
I go back to school I will be able to __________________________. (Add in activities which will be available).
There will be some lessons that we can’t have at my school yet – we might not
(or will not) have (add lessons not happening e.g., swimming).
Page 4
When
I go back to school, grown- ups will be wearing __________________. This is
to keep the grown-ups and children safe. Grown-ups might look strange or
funny, but wearing their ______________ is important to keep us safe.
When
children go back to school they may not be able to sit close to each other.
Children may not be able to play close together. This is called social distancing. This is important
to keep us safe from the virus.
Page 5
I am
still learning at home until my school tells us when we can go back to
school. Soon school will let my parents (insert
other carers here where appropriate) know when I can go to school. Then I
will know which days I can go to school. I will know if I am going to school
in the morning or the afternoon.
School
will let me know which children will be at school on the same days and at the
same times as me. I will know which friends I will see at school.
School
will let us have a time-table, so I will know what lessons I will have. When
I go back to school, my lessons will be on my schedule. I will be able to
follow my schedule. I will be able to play and learn with (insert names here).
Page 6
Going
back to school might feel exciting and might feel scary – this is ok. All the
grown-ups will helps us to settle back to school. If I have any worries at
school, I can tell _____________. If I have any questions at school I can ask
__________________.
Page 7
I am
still learning at home now. I can ask my mum or dad (add appropriate carers) if I have any questions or worries. Grown-ups
are planning for when children can go back to school. Soon I will know when I
am going back to school. I can put the dates on my schedule at home. One day my
school will be open for all children.
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I will add further Social Stories, with symbols, to my next post.
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