North-east school wants to include worry dolls as part of time capsule project

By David Proctor

May 3 2021, 7:00 am

Youngsters at Inverurie’s Strathburn School are submitting a woollen worry doll for the Aberdeenshire time capsule as part of the Press and Journal and Evening Express’ scheme. Pupils Milo, Rebecca and James are pictured with their dolls.

A north-east primary school wants to put a worry doll in a special 2021 time capsule designed to lock away memories of coronavirus.

The doll is one of hundreds of the woollen friends handed out to children at Strathburn School in Inverurie to help ease their worries during the pandemic.

Schools across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire are taking part in the Press & Journal and Evening Express’ Time Capsule Project, which will collect mementoes of lockdown and store them away for future generations.

During the first Covid-19 lockdown last year staff, parents and event parents of teachers knitted almost 500 worry dolls.

The idea behind them was to encourage children to share any concerns they had and remind them they still had the support of their school community.

Staff members delivered the woollen figures on their daily walks and soon everyone was looking forward to the day theirs would arrive.

Now every new pupil at Strathburn School is given their very own worry doll.

Strathburn pupil Grace with the worry dolls.

They are also preparing for a new cohort of primary ones and the intention is to continue handing these out in years to come.

Strathburn headteacher Barbara Milne said that the thinking behind the worry dolls was to ease an anxiousness felt by pupils during the initial coronavirus lockdown.

She said: “We knew some of the children were feeling anxious during those early days and we knew that talking and sharing those worries is a big part of feeling safe and healthy.

“Talking to a worry doll can make it easier to share a concern with another person and we have had great feedback from parents who have said how the dolls help to encourage their children to open up.

“Each doll is completely unique and we hope they are also a good reminder that there is always someone from school who can help and support families too.”

As well as submitting a worry doll for inclusion in the time capsule project, Strathburn’s classes are currently considering what else they plan to present.

The pupils want to add a worry doll to the capsule. Front is Rebecca, back, from left, Depute Head Mrs Hay, James, Milo, Archie, Grace, Phoebe and John.

Printing XIC and Odfjell Well Services have agreed to create two futuristic-looking time capsules as part of the project.

Strathburn’s worry dolls have proved so successful that Aberdeenshire Council’s educational psychologists heard about them anecdotally via their helpline, with feedback from struggling parents who explained how much of a comfort they had been.

Aberdeenshire Council’s head of education Vincent Docherty said: “They say a problem shared is a problem halved and it is so true. Our psychologists are very impressed by the positive impact Strathburn has made here and I absolutely share that enthusiasm.

“I know some of these wee dolls have been given their own beds, houses or pride of place on bedside tables and that is testament not only to how much the dolls mean to them but how much the support of their school does too.”