Teach Early Years - Issue 14.2

LAURA DOCKRILL IS AN AWARD-WINNING CHILDREN’S AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR Knowledge is power, so let’s prepare our children for the challenges they may encounter as adults, says Laura Dockrill … “No one spoke to us about mental health” GAPS IN OUR KNOWLEDGE Fast forward to my early 30s, and I am becoming a mum for the first time. In the aftermath of a chaotic birth I am hit with a severe mental illness called postpartum psychosis (don’t worry, I hadn’t heard of it either until it tried to kill me). The illness came on thick and fast, including a whole host of unpleasant symptoms: racing and intrusive thoughts, extreme anxiety, depression, paranoia, delusions and insomnia – the yummy list goes on – and, when my newborn son was just three weeks old, I woke up on my first Mother’s Day (I know, you really couldn’t write it) in a psychiatric ward, separated from my baby. I had never known shame like it. Thanks to medication, therapy and support from loved ones, I got better. But recovery is not linear or something you can just add hot water to and stir. A lot of it was spent scrabbling around in the darkness wondering how I’d got so sick and how to get out of it, mentally weightlifting, desperately floundering, pretending to be okay when I wasn’t – all whilst caring for a newborn, recovering from major surgery, and trying to navigate motherhood. All I kept thinking was: How did they not teach this in school? This was not something that could be measured with a goddamn protractor, and yet we spent a lot of time with one of those. Let me begin by saying I know it’s getting so much better. My seven- year-old teaches me breathing skills and “brain breaks” that he’s learned from his (awesome) teacher; his classroom has a “feelings wall”. I also appreciate how under strain teachers are, but ultimately, teacher-pupil relationships and peer bonding can only be improved by openness and A t primary school I learned loads of important and brilliant stuff, skills to set me up for life: how to tie my shoelaces, how to tell the time, and – no matter how tempting – not to stick my finger into the pencil sharpener. I learned about Greek mythology and the Thames Barrier. We grasped maths by sharing imaginary sweets, attempted our own “Picassos”, took great care of our pet stick insects. I learned the names of the planets, that a flower needs water and sunlight to grow, and that footballs really hurt if they hit you in the face. I learned how to bake flapjacks and, for the deep sorrow of everyone around me, play the recorder. One quiet afternoon, to demonstrate light and shape, our teacher closed the curtains, turned off the big lights, set up a projector in the hall, and we chalked up our silhouettes – it was actual theatre. I made my first proper friend in my Reception class, and we are still best friends to this day. And I fell head over heels in love with the book corner, story time and writing creatively. It all starts in the classroom. Anything is possible. The seeds are planted in those early years, and if nurtured with the right teacher, who knows what blossoming trees can grow? I truly believe I am a writer now because of my love for books as a kid. 48 Teachearlyyears.com