I hope this is helpful for teachers: As everyone scrambles to close down schools for Friday, the GOODBYES you enable for children will help them immensely now & in the long term. SHARED RITUALS to mark this moment will reduce confusion & loss.
2. Another thing that will help is talking. Just talking about feelings & uncertainties. FEELING HEARD, even if no one can give you answers, helps a child (and a grown up) calm. Your body experiences feeling heard as companionship. It says: “You aren’t alone in all this change.”
3. Another thing teachers can do to help pupils who are struggling w/ ths sudden loss is to create a transitional object. Anything that REPRESENTS t teacher/relationships will carry on that sense of connection. @ACEBearSchools use these. Even specially folded paper will do! 
4. I’m not joking about folded up paper as a transitional object to help w/ sudden separation from school. 😊 Here’s one I keep in a drawer to connect me to the past. It’s just a folded up crisp packet. CREATING the object TOGETHER imbues it with meaning & #connection power.
5. Another idea is to have teacher/pupils write each other a note, that you can’t open until AFTER the schools hv broken up. That BRIDGES the period of separation. It could say something that is special/valued about the child. Then they feel pride/comforted by that self-quality.
6 (end). In short, many children will struggle w/ school closures because t separation is so SUDDEN. Anything adults can do to help BRIDGE THE EMOTIONAL GAP will comfort attachment fears. Then it is truly only a gap, not a cliff. Be creative & laugh as much as you can.
