Ready to reopen
How one school has prepared to welcome pupils back:
THE first day of school can be daunting for a number of reasons without throwing a pandemic into the mix.
So schools across the country have been putting time and effort in making classrooms safe as they welcome back pupils.
Kenton School is no exception and gave the Chronicle a tour as they added the finishing touches before 1,800 children enter the doors on Wednesday.
The Newcastle academy has completely changed the way they operate with pupils now mainly staying put and teachers being the ones to move between classrooms.
Portable sinks, automatic hand sanitiser machines and social distancing signage are now commonplace in the halls and it may seem like a totally different school for pupils returning.
“The last thing we want is for kids to be coming into to school and feeling frightened,” Claire Gibson, the assistant principal, said.
“So we’re trying to make it a welcoming environment, especially for the Year 7s who may be walking in for the very first time.
“We want to get them back in class and learning as soon as possible and reset behaviour and standards.
“The best thing will be to get into a strict routine straight away.”
Each year group is now in a “bubble” and can’t mix with pupils from another year. They each have their own yards and blocks of classrooms as well as different gates to enter and exit the school.
Each year also has their own colour to give them a sense of identity.
Large areas are being kept empty to ensure there is plenty of distance between year groups and branded Kenton School face masks must be worn when travelling around the corridors. Posters about how to spot Covid19 symptoms and hand washing are now displayed around the school and staff have even recorded demonstration videos. Weekly assemblies will be held remotely.
“One of the biggest changes is that they used to be able to move across the school but now we are moving the teachers and keeping the pupils in blocks”, Claire, who is also a physics teacher, added.
“We’ve made all classrooms generic so they will be moving very little.”
Pupils in the same year group can sit together and it will be teachers doing the social distancing by leaving a large space between them and the desks.
Pupils will have “rigorous” seating plans as part of a Track and Trace-style system if anyone were to test positive.
Teachers are being asked to wear visors in the classroom and then add a mask when walking in communal areas.
There are barriers in place in corridors to remind pupils to stay in their own blocks and lunchtimes will be staggered.
Although staff are hopeful that the school will remain open, they are currently always planning two weeks of work in advance to upload onto an online resource just in case they have to close down again.
“If we just follow the basic rules, everyone will get on nicely,” Claire added.
“The rules need to be fluid because we know they could have to change.”
On their first day back, pupils will stay with their form tutor and the rules and safety measures will be explained to get everyone on the same page.
“The timetables have been changed so that they all now spend 30 minutes each morning with their form tutors because we need to be keeping a check on their mental health and how they are coping,” Claire said.
“We need to tell them that they still have a future ahead.”
If we just follow the basic rules, everyone will get on nicely Assistant principal Claire Gibson