The rhythm of the summer term is often frenetic and frantic. But it is, above all, familiar: the reports, the end-of-term performances, the interviewing of new staff, the emotional wait for results days, the signing of shirts, the farewell assemblies, the emptying of overstuffed children’s trays, the locating of multiple odd plimsolls, and the often tearful thank yous and farewells from staff, students and families. 

Summer is a term like no other. We see all aspects of our work played out in one annual finale after another: from sports days to transition days to musical extravaganzas. And then there are the quieter moments of support and guidance, as we gently help those less enamoured by the prospect of change to navigate the next stage of their education.

But this year, the finale wasn’t a flamboyant celebration of a year (or an entire school career) of work. Instead, it was a sudden and unexpected curtain drop, with the audience and players left initially flummoxed as to how to ensure that the show could go on. 

Inside a bubble

Initially, the lockdown term continued unabated, no one quite believing that our children might not all be back at school until the following September. 

Gradually, the weight of realisation began to sit heavily, both at home and at school. We began to accept that not only was our current and immediate future one of sanitised bubbles and digital connections, but that we might not see some of our longest-serving students and families again before they moved on in the coming autumn. 

There are many critics of the way in which the primary-to-secondary transition has, in some schools, become too elaborate, overly emotional and disproportionate. However, the celebration of seven years’ worth of being part of a community - the end of an era - and a celebration of achievements has always been a joyful and fitting end to the academic experience of our eldest primary pupils. 

This year, however, there will be none of the school traditions and rites of passage in their usual format. No hugs of friends, signing of shirts, whole-school assemblies with families in attendance to celebrate. 

These children will likely not feel in that circle in the same way as previous year groups. It is hard to be and feel circled by your wider community when you are inside a bubble.

Socially distanced transition

Bringing back Year 6 for the final few weeks of term gave schools a chance to ensure that these pupils had some opportunity to prepare a little for their transition to Year 7. But even that was suddenly curtailed here in Leicester, because of an extended local lockdown. 

Our colleagues across the country have worked tirelessly: not only in their rapid acquisition of digital teaching and learning prowess, but also to ensure that our bubbled children don’t feel outside the circle. 

Socially distanced lines of staff applauding their Year 6 children leaving on their last days here in Leicestershire can be seen on social media, as can letters and video messages from their class teachers, socially distanced group dance performances, and multiple art and digital projects. 

Here in my own home, my four-year-old has had his transition meetings via Zoom, and his nursery and playgroup staff dropped off completed learning journeys on our doorstep and waved from the bottom of the drive. My elder two children experienced myriad parties, celebrations, sing-songs and carefully crafted transition experiences at the same stage. 

Bursting the Year 6 bubble

You see, the thing about the end of the summer term is that it is a period of reflection, of evaluation, of goodbyes; it’s the prospect of new beginnings and the celebration of a job well done for both staff and students. 

There is always that heady relief that, as a teacher, you’re still standing in that empty classroom, and that you made it to the last day. But there are also other emotions: pride, joy, exhaustion, sadness that something has ended and the bubbling excitement of the change of pace to come over the next few weeks. 

That moment when all the children had left my Year 6 classroom for the last time, I could always hear them shouting and laughing outside with their friends, families and the rest of the school community. Then I would sit quietly for a while, and take some time to replay the story of the year we’d just shared and think of the same circle we’d all been in together. 

This year, the end of the year for some students and teachers will be the simply click of a mouse and the closing of a device. This year, for some, will be a year they will never forget.

But I hope they know that, as much as they may feel that this lockdown has burst their Year 6 bubble, they are a very much still a special part of our educational circle. 

Emma Turner is the research and CPD lead for Discovery Schools Trust, Leicestershire. She tweets @Emma_Turner75