Was your child reluctant to resume school?
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Did your student appear withdrawn?
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Did you enquire beyond the surface?
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Many schools resumed last week and more will resume this week. However, these are real issues that could affect student performance.
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When we talk about safety in general, many of us think of only the things that can cause obvious harm but there are other elements that can affect our safety most especially in school.
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According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, after basic survival needs like food and shelter is safety. Safety here refers to emotional and psychological safety as well as the absence of physical threat. If children do not feel emotionally safe in schools, it will gradually snowball into negative behaviours.
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So, how do you react when your student is not getting what you’re teaching?
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What is the school’s policy on bullying?
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What systems are in place to ensure students can communicate about anything without judgement?
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Are they afraid to speak up?
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Is your school emotionally safe?
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What would you start to do differently?

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