Coronavirus

What has changed?

Coronavirus causes an infection called COVID-19.

Lots of people all over the world are coughing and have a fever.

Coronavirus spreads by people coughing and touching things.

Some people in hospitals were very poorly and couldn't breathe.

Some people died from the COVID-19 infection.

We might feel sad about people who have died.

The government gave us new rules.

The rules helped keep most people safe and healthy.

We had to stay at home for a long time.

Many people did not go to school or to work.

We did not go to the playground, sports centre, swimming pool,

church/temple/mosque, friend's houses or other places.

The rules are changing.

We can safely go outside more.

But we still have to be careful.

We might wear face masks and use hand sanitiser

when we go outside, in shops, or on public transport.

Adults might say 'don't touch!' and 'keep your distance!'.

We must wash our hands often.

We rub our hands with soap for 20 seconds.

Handwashing helps stop the virus spreading.

We can touch people we live with.

We must stay a safe distance from other people.

We need 1 metre of personal space.

If coronavirus doesn't spread more or get worse,

we hope we can go back to school in September.

School will be a bit different - but that's OK.

I might be in a new class, with new teachers.

I might not see all of my friends.

I might eat lunch in my classroom.

Adults might take my temperature to see if I am poorly.

Adults will look after me if I am poorly.

Adults remind me to cough into my elbow or a tissue.

If I feel worried about coronavirus I can talk to:

adults at school,

parents or other family at home.

July 2020

Dear parents/carers,

We have created this updated Social Story with symbols about coronavirus and the gradual easing of thelockdown restrictions. As the same visual is being sent to all pupils in the school, we anticipate that somechildren will still find it difficult to understand, as the situation is very complicated and hard to explain. Pleasefeel free to use this document as flexibly as you need to, in order to support your child. If there are anypages that you don't need, you can take them out. For example, if it is not relevant or you would prefer notto talk about death and bereavement with your child, you can remove page 3. You can remove this page toreveal the title page.

With Social Stories, it's important to remember:

- Reading the story with an adult shouldn't be too demanding for your child or become something that s/hedoes not want to do.

- It is best to read the story with your child at times when s/he is calm, as often as you need to.

- There should be no expectation on the child to read it themselves, unless they want to. Engaging with thestory with an adult could be rewarded to ensure this remains a positive experience they will want to do again(repeating the story helps the information be internalised).

- As your child becomes more familiar with the story, her/his understanding of the situation should graduallyincrease. You can then start to use the same phrases and vocabulary that are in the story at those keymoments when the situation needs to be explained.

We hope you and your child will find this story useful. Please email salt@manor.brent.sch.uk if you have anyquestions or need more support.

Best wishes,

Ellie Cornford (Head of Therapy)