This issue looks at lessons learned from the lockdowns of the past few years. ‘In conversation with...’ examines the experience and successes of a class teacher, with Helen Spring interviewing Hiba El-Boghdadly. Their discussion offers an open account of the trials and strictures placed on teaching, but also of the ‘positive legacy’ – such as rapidly developing new online teaching skills and know-how.

Verity Jones and her author team offer some insight into why listening to children’s voices post-pandemic is absolutely crucial – particularly with respect to being prepared for any future social shocks. In the next article, Suzanne Robson offers a viewpoint on how primary teachers might support children’s mental health through a personal attestation of the benefits of taking primary science outdoors.

Mairéad Hourigan and Aisling Leavy celebrate all that is best in collaborative practice in their heart-warming account of their early-years puppetry project. This resonates superbly with Sheetal Kowalczyk’s piece on encouraging collaborative practices in primary science with girls. Both articles throw up some really good insight into collaborative practices across primary stages.

Rachel Linfield and Erin Ireland’s experience of their online home primary science club will immediately resonate with readers, as they attempted to keep primary sciences alive in the minds of children during lockdown. Tsui Allen’s article on robotics heralds a future in primary sciences that may have seemed an unassailable jump prior to the recent protracted period of relying on online learning and society’s needful rapid familiarity with new digital peripheries. Finally, Bryony Turford and Paul Tyler look to the future with science clubs and the welcome return to children’s collective social interaction in primary science.