Pen Green Centre for children and their families

Before COVID hit England, it was in the news in Italy, Sardinia is a little island, so my family were quite safe, the problem was there was a leak in the press about the government plans to lockdown so a lot of people started going to the South of Italy and the Islands to their second homes. This was not very good for my country, the North of Italy has better a stronger economy, better industry, more financial support and more hospitals. Before people were coming to Sardinia it was COVID free but they were bringing it with them, coming to the beaches with masks but thank god the government put a stop to it and now there are no cases in Sardinia and my family are safe.

We make phone calls to my family in Italy every single day. My mamma is obsessed with cleaning, she tells me to wash my hands and wear a mask, for instance when I do shopping I bleach it myself and my husband thought I was crazy, over the top but because I am very honest if my mamma asked me if I have bleached the shopping I hadn’t I would be in trouble with my mamma. I do what she says!

At the start of England’s lockdown it was extremely stressful, we didn’t know what was happening and I didn’t know about my course, what was happening and whether I could still work with children. Pen Green have been very, very clear and they explained what to do and gave us tasks to do at home. If I was a ‘househusband’ I could just take care of the children while my husband worked but this was not possible. We have tried to make our children very independent. We give them a list every day – making their bedrooms, hoover, basic things, we do gardening together and it has worked very well. To begin with the children tried to hide the fact they were not doing their school work but we put things in place at home, when they have finished tasks they show us and this is going very well. The boys have been able to do the work with the right support, the youngest finds the writing hard however he has been working with the iPad which he likes, writing with hands he doesn’t do but typing he does. I discovered my children have progressed in a few things because we are using technology to study, it would be nice if this could carry on in school, I understand people need to write but my son doesn’t have a lot of strength in his hand and can do better on the iPad, he understands the rules of writing but he doesn’t leave a space or use capital letters, if he types he notices his mistakes for himself and can correct it.

My husband grew up in Corby and has sisters here, one has complex health issues which means we really need to pay attention and see her in the garden. It’s difficult, because I am Italian the children have been taught my culture, we like hugs and kisses, we kiss our children its normal but right now we cannot kiss our aunties like we would. When we adopted our  children I taught them this Italian way, at first they did not come close, I did a lot of work to get them to cuddle and kiss like Italians and now they are being told they cannot do that.

I went back to school when I finished my course, the Headteacher invited me in if I wanted to, I work Monday and Wednesday mornings and it is a completely different experience. I am in Foundation where I was in Year Two before and I’ve got just 4 children. Me being there gives the teacher a chance to do other jobs.  In the classroom the children have their own desk with their own equipment. The children can bring to school their jackets and a lunch box. No toys are permitted.  The children in our bubble cannot mix with other children at school. The classroom and the outside area have red tape around the objects the children are not allowed to touch. The children can only play with a few games and after they have to be washed. In the outdoor area the children can only play with washable plastic toys.     We keep 2m distance, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, the children are doing recap more than studying new stuff, it’s good for me and the children to see other people.

I have appreciated my family being together, COVID has created a very good bond with my family, its gone well at home, it could have gone very wrong but we really support each other and the children. Everyone has their own space, I have a spare room I can go to and hide for a bit. I think I am more close to my children than ever because we do a lot of things together. I really hope that things get back to normal soon, I really hope my children get to get back with their friends soon, not just by phone but just go see them and do things together. I am not the kind of person who can stay at home all the time, my husband loves it – I don’t. I like to go to school, play with the children, talk to other people, we are completely different. I cannot wait for this to end so I can have conversations with other people not just ‘have you done your teeth?’