‘Sometimes I feel a bit scared dad may bring germs back from work’
Pupils at one primary school have spoken about missing school, how they view the coronavirus and the creative ways they are staying busy. It has been eight weeks since school gates shut to all but the offspring of key workers and children at Wateringbury Primary have offered readers a glimpse into their daily lives, in this ‘new normal’. Speaking before the Government said primary schools could reopen to some years in June, Louie Butler, 11, said he was “definitely” looking forward to returning to the Stanley Road school.
Louie, from Nettlestead, said: “We are learning everything from home and it’s new. We are doing ratios and proportions and that’s a bit tricky for me.
“But I do enjoy it, I get it all done in the morning then we go outside.”
He misses his friends but video calls his best pal Henry, while both work on their assignments set by teachers. Getting an extra hour of shut eye does not compare to swinging on tyres in the playground with friends, according to Maya Shepelev.
Maya runs circles around her garden before starting work with her older sister Lola, 11.
Maya said: “After a couple of days I was a bit miserable and I’m missing friends a lot. “I am missing my teachers because they are really supportive, Miss Rosh is my favourite teacher. She can get a bit angry sometimes because of some of the boys in class but she’s really kind and makes learning fun.”
Asked about her thoughts on the pandemic, she said: Sometimes I feel a bit scared because my dad still goes to work and he might bring back germs.”
Her dad, Alexey, is a postman.
Summer Wilson, 10, has been busy drawing insects and snakes for her favourite class, art.
She misses school “quite a bit”, especially her teachers and best friend Dottie. Budding poets such as Ellie Angear, seven, have also been writing about their lockdown experience.
Chasey Crawford-Usher, head teacher,, said: “There is no question that children are desperately missing school and the social aspect, particularly. There is no substitute for that and it is something that concerns parents and staff deeply.”
Call to open classrooms divides heads, pages 18 & 19.