Highlight of the Week

Coronavirus and Me

As part of her work as Chairperson of the Advisory Panel for the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Lower Sixth student, Saiba A, has been heavily involved in creating resources for children to help them understand COVID-19.

Saiba produced an educational poster which is available on the Child Com Wales website: https://www.childcomwales.org.uk/coronavirus/. She has also been busy contributing artwork to be displayed for patients and staff in the Dragon’s Heart Hospital to show her appreciation for the NHS in this time of crisis.

More recently, Saiba helped to create the Coronavirus and Me survey for the Welsh Government that gave children aged 3-18 years old the opportunity to share their feelings and opinions on how they’re coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. She appeared on BBC and ITV News to discuss the findings and wrote the following statement for Issue 30 of our Weekly Newsletter. 

"23,700 children participated and the results showed that whist some children were concerned about the length of the pandemic and if their loved ones will be affected, 84% are feeling safe. The top three impacts were: not seeing friends, not visiting family members and school closures; a concerning 89% of children were worried about their education and 49% said they lacked confidence and that the pandemic was affecting their mental health. These findings are essential for schools, communities, parents and the government in understanding how they can best support children after the lockdown. I was given the opportunity to explain the findings to the wider public and Welsh Government, which led to my involvement in interviews with ITV Wales news and BBC Wales news on the importance of the findings. This survey has helped the Welsh Government form guidance on recovery for children and their mental health after this lockdown period and we will hopefully be seeing appropriate support for all children soon"