3 ways to love your SRE school when you return

As you return to your SRE classroom, ensure you are caring for the whole school community with these three simple steps.

How did you feel when you first heard that SRE would be resuming in term 3?

You might have been relieved. You may have had lots of questions. There was probably some excitement there too.

Perhaps you thought finally things are getting back to normal. But that doesn’t mean everything will be the same as it was the last time you were at school for SRE.

Over the past term schools have been through a huge amount of changes. There has been lots of stress and hard work for students and staff alike.

So, as you go back into schools and into the classroom there are some unique ways that you can love and care for the whole school community, not just your classes.

Be patient

If the last three months have taught us anything, it’s the very real impact of quick and unpredictable changes. Schools have been through so many restrictions in the past term and I can only imagine how teachers and other staff are feeling.

Term 3 brings a new set of changes. For the first time since the beginning of this pandemic, visitors will be entering the school. While they are still adapting to new hygiene and social distancing practices, they now have new visitor procedures to manage.

The Department of Education recognises that it’s going to take time to adapt and has given schools a three-week time frame to restart SRE. As you head back into your classroom an acknowledgement of this should be reflected in the way we communicate with schools. Be patient if things take a little longer to organise than expected. Be understanding when things don’t go smoothly straight away. Be gentle and kind as you speak with staff and teachers. Remember that you go in as an ambassador of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) and look to love the school community accordingly. 

Follow their lead

If you were to research the most commonly used phrases in the first six months of 2020 what do you think would be at the top of the list? I suspect terms like hygiene practices and infection control would be far more popular than they were last year!

We are all getting used to washing and sanitising our hands frequently. As we return to church and to work we’re all going to get used to wiping down chairs, desks, door handles and so on.

The same will be true for schools. They’ve spent the last few weeks getting used to what this means for the school environment. They may be new procedures in schools for SRE too. So if you are asked to wipe down a chair you used for SRE or if you are asked not to pass pencils around, understand that everything being done is for the safety of you and the students.

Read through the Return to SRE Guidelines and be prepared to follow any additional procedures given by your school.

Don’t go to school if you’re sick

This is one of the most important things you can do to love your school community. This is likely to be an issue for many through winter with flu symptoms being widespread.

It is really important that you don’t put yourselves or the school at risk by going to SRE while you are unwell. Instead, stay home and go get tested. Then you can go back the next week healthy and with no concern about taking any viruses with you.