A guide to learning in a Covid-19 world: Supporting early childhood learners (January 2021)
Sector Insights| 2 min read
A guide to learning in a Covid-19 world: Supporting early childhood learners (January 2021)
Covid-19
19 January 2021
Summary:
This short guide is for early childhood education leaders and kaiako. It covers what we found from talking to services in 2020 about the impact of Covid-19, and shares strategies used by services to respond to the challenges they faced. It also sets out some actions that could be considered for continuing to support children, parents, whānau and staff in 2021.
What we found from talking to early childhood education services in 2020 about the impact of Covid-19
The key findings from our Learning in a Covid-19 World: The Impact of Covid-19 on Early Childhood Education report, which you may find interesting, are set out below.
Despite services being busy last year responding to Covid-19, we are grateful for the time given to us by leaders and kaiako. Their experiences and insights are at the heart of what we have learnt. You can find the full report on the impact of Covid-19 on early childhood education services, along with a short summary of the findings, on EROâs website.
What we learnt about children in early learning services
Learning remotely is possible for young children if you connect with their parents and whÄnau.
Nine out of ten services said they were able to provide some form of distance learning for children during lockdown.
You will have strengthened the learning relationships you have with parents and whÄnau.Â
A third of services reported that the increased interaction with parents and whÄnau supported childrenâs learning.
You may have struggled to connect with children and whÄnau who have limited access to digital tools.
17 percent of services identified that it was challenging to support learning during the lockdown for children whose whÄnau did not have access to the internet or a digital device.
Some of your children and whÄnau may still be feeling anxious about coming to your early childhood education service.Â
In more than a quarter of services, whÄnau were nervous about their children returning to onsite education and care following lockdown.
What we learnt about parents and whÄnau
Keeping in regular connect with your parents and whÄnau during these difficult times is important.
84 percent of services reported having regular contact with parents, whÄnau and children over the lockdown.
Services tailored the way they communicated to best suit the needs of whÄnau.
What we learnt about your staff
Covid-19 may have been hard on your staff.
One in three services said their kaiako were experiencing anxiety and that this was related to the uncertainty created by the changing Covid-19 situation, job security and their own health.
What we learnt about the strategies services put in placeÂ
Covid-19 has accelerated the use of digital technologies in early childhood teaching and learning. Leaders and kaiako want to build on this moving forward.
Relationships with whÄnau have strengthened and can support learning going forward.
 Many services have developed or reviewed their pandemic plans.Â
New health and safety processes have been established and there has been an increased focus on keeping healthy.
The key findings from our Learning in a Covid-19 World: The Impact of Covid-19 on Early Childhood Education report, which you may find interesting, are set out below.
Despite services being busy last year responding to Covid-19, we are grateful for the time given to us by leaders and kaiako. Their experiences and insights are at the heart of what we have learnt. You can find the full report on the impact of Covid-19 on early childhood education services, along with a short summary of the findings, on EROâs website.
What we learnt about children in early learning services
Learning remotely is possible for young children if you connect with their parents and whÄnau.
Nine out of ten services said they were able to provide some form of distance learning for children during lockdown.
You will have strengthened the learning relationships you have with parents and whÄnau.Â
A third of services reported that the increased interaction with parents and whÄnau supported childrenâs learning.
You may have struggled to connect with children and whÄnau who have limited access to digital tools.
17 percent of services identified that it was challenging to support learning during the lockdown for children whose whÄnau did not have access to the internet or a digital device.
Some of your children and whÄnau may still be feeling anxious about coming to your early childhood education service.Â
In more than a quarter of services, whÄnau were nervous about their children returning to onsite education and care following lockdown.
What we learnt about parents and whÄnau
Keeping in regular connect with your parents and whÄnau during these difficult times is important.
84 percent of services reported having regular contact with parents, whÄnau and children over the lockdown.
Services tailored the way they communicated to best suit the needs of whÄnau.
What we learnt about your staff
Covid-19 may have been hard on your staff.
One in three services said their kaiako were experiencing anxiety and that this was related to the uncertainty created by the changing Covid-19 situation, job security and their own health.
What we learnt about the strategies services put in placeÂ
Covid-19 has accelerated the use of digital technologies in early childhood teaching and learning. Leaders and kaiako want to build on this moving forward.
Relationships with whÄnau have strengthened and can support learning going forward.
 Many services have developed or reviewed their pandemic plans.Â
New health and safety processes have been established and there has been an increased focus on keeping healthy.
How can you continue to support your children this year?
Here are some actions for you to consider to continue to support your children, kaiako, and parents and whÄnau.
Reflect on 2020Â â identifying what worked well for your service and what challenges emerged and how to address these.Â
Prepare â having a pandemic plan in place and staying up to date with information shared by government organisations.
Establish clear channels for sharing information â sharing relevant, timely and clear information with kaiako, parents and whÄnau.
Encourage innovative approaches for how your curriculum content is delivered â encouraging kaiako to share creative and innovative approaches that can be used to support learning in different situations.
Plan to support remote learning â establishing good routines for online learning, outlining expectations for staff participation and considering how this can be supported.
Involve parents and whÄnau in reviewing how well the curriculum meets their childâs needs and use this to inform ongoing developments.
Monitor your own wellbeing and check in with your staff â communicating with staff, considering tools that can support staff wellbeing and drawing on support networks to support your own wellbeing.
Here are some actions for you to consider to continue to support your children, kaiako, and parents and whÄnau.
Reflect on 2020Â â identifying what worked well for your service and what challenges emerged and how to address these.Â
Prepare â having a pandemic plan in place and staying up to date with information shared by government organisations.
Establish clear channels for sharing information â sharing relevant, timely and clear information with kaiako, parents and whÄnau.
Encourage innovative approaches for how your curriculum content is delivered â encouraging kaiako to share creative and innovative approaches that can be used to support learning in different situations.
Plan to support remote learning â establishing good routines for online learning, outlining expectations for staff participation and considering how this can be supported.
Involve parents and whÄnau in reviewing how well the curriculum meets their childâs needs and use this to inform ongoing developments.
Monitor your own wellbeing and check in with your staff â communicating with staff, considering tools that can support staff wellbeing and drawing on support networks to support your own wellbeing.
Except for the Education Review Office's logo used throughout this report, this copyright work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence. In essence, you are free to copy, distribute and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to the Education Review Office and abide by the other licence terms. In your attribution, use the wording 'Education Review Office', not the Education Review Office logo or the New Zealand Government logo.Â
Except for the Education Review Office's logo used throughout this report, this copyright work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence. In essence, you are free to copy, distribute and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to the Education Review Office and abide by the other licence terms. In your attribution, use the wording 'Education Review Office', not the Education Review Office logo or the New Zealand Government logo.Â
Introduction
We know that Covid-19 has had a huge impact on you, your early childhood education service and other services across NZ. In 2020, you had to deal with new challenges and develop innovative ways to support your children.
Last year was tough and you had to go above and beyond to meet the needs of your children and whÄnau. With this being said, the impacts of Covid-19 are likely to still be felt this year â and ERO would like to help you to support your children during this difficult time.
To do this, we talked to leaders and kaiako in a wide range of services in 2020 to find out about the challenges they had to overcome in responding to Covid-19 and the lessons learnt in supporting children, parents, whÄnau, and kaiako. From talking to everyone, we have produced an in-depth report on the impact of Covid-19 on early childhood education. This short guide for early childhood education leaders and kaiako draws from the full report to help you:
understand the impact of Covid-19 on early childhood education
share strategies adopted by services to respond to Covid-19
identify practical actions for you and your service to consider to continue to support children, parents, whÄnau, and staff in a Covid-19 world.
We hope you find this guide useful to reflect how far you have come in responding to Covid-19 and to provide you with some ideas about what you could do to support your service in 2021.
We know that Covid-19 has had a huge impact on you, your early childhood education service and other services across NZ. In 2020, you had to deal with new challenges and develop innovative ways to support your children.
Last year was tough and you had to go above and beyond to meet the needs of your children and whÄnau. With this being said, the impacts of Covid-19 are likely to still be felt this year â and ERO would like to help you to support your children during this difficult time.
To do this, we talked to leaders and kaiako in a wide range of services in 2020 to find out about the challenges they had to overcome in responding to Covid-19 and the lessons learnt in supporting children, parents, whÄnau, and kaiako. From talking to everyone, we have produced an in-depth report on the impact of Covid-19 on early childhood education. This short guide for early childhood education leaders and kaiako draws from the full report to help you:
understand the impact of Covid-19 on early childhood education
share strategies adopted by services to respond to Covid-19
identify practical actions for you and your service to consider to continue to support children, parents, whÄnau, and staff in a Covid-19 world.
We hope you find this guide useful to reflect how far you have come in responding to Covid-19 and to provide you with some ideas about what you could do to support your service in 2021.
