Heads welcome return of children
PUPILS will attend school in “bubbles” of up to 10, and won’t come in for full days, let alone full weeks, even if their parents do decide to send them when they re-open on June 29. The work they do will also be different.
Headteachers said they are looking forward to welcoming children and teenagers back but cautioned that school won’t be the same as it was for the foreseeable future.
Some schools have been open as hubs for key workers throughout, but most children have not been to school since they were ordered to shut on March 20.
Heads are divided over whether the Welsh Government announcement that schools can re-open to all pupils (except those shielding) from June 29 - with up to one in three attending at one time - is too risky in terms of the current Covid-19 infection rate in Wales.
But they said they are working to make their buildings safe for children and staff.
“We have been looking at models for re-opening for some weeks. The school is split into four colour houses with pupils in different years but pupils from the same family in each.
“Our plan is to have one house in the morning and one in the afternoon so we see them pupil twice a week.”
“I am happy with the announcement for schools re-opening on June 29. We can open and think it’s right. I think socially we need to get young people back in school.
“It’s going to be a balance of what the virus is and tackling our fear. Young people need a focal point apart from home.”
Within the colour “houses” groups of 10 pupils will spend their time in one space with two members of staff.
The large new build school is large enough to have all the pupils in at anyone time upstairs while the downstairs is cleaned and visa versa, so the whole school is cleaned once a day. Pupils will also be given wipes to clean equipment they use.
It hasn’t been decided whether to re-open the canteen or allow students to bring in food with the free school meal provision that has continued to go to families while schools were closed.
“We’ll see them twice a week for a catch up. It won’t be study. It’s about getting them into literacy and numeracy again and preparing them for the new blended learning at home and school. It’s a huge pastoral task. Each student will have the equivalent of four full days, or more if less come in, before the summer holiday.
“We also want regular testing of all staff.
“We are not expecting all parents to send their children in yet but I think it will gradually go up. If you try to force it you will just create animosity.”
“We have 800 pupils but year 11s have gone so that leaves around 650.
“We will probably have one to one catch up meetings with all pupils or groups of eight before the end of term.
“There are 160 in each year group so with eight in one classroom that means 20 lessons and 20 teachers, but a third of my staff have issues about availability because of shielding and some will also have their own childcare issues. That’s a problem.
“The frustration is that the statement to open was made with no guidance on how to do that until next week. So we are trying to plan with no details.
“But our biggest problem is how children get here. We are the only Catholic faith school in the Vale of Glamorgan so 55% of them are bussed in. Staggering when school starts and ends (to avoid crowds) will be virtually impossible.
“I am also literally walking around the school the school corridors with a two metre stick. Our corridors are not two metres.
“I welcome coming back because it will benefit pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.
This is a vocational job and most teachers want to be back in school. It’s about calculated risk and balancing the benefits.”
“We are planning for every pupil to come in for four full days before the end of term, if their parents want, as well as continuing remote learning.
“Year 11s and 13s have left so year seven pupils will come in on Mondays, year eights on Tuesdays, year nine Wednesdays and year 10 Thursdays. Fridays the school will be shut for deep cleaning.
“We are a 1980s modern building, corridors are not two metres, so we will have a one way system in place.
“We were surprised it was announced all year groups could come back. This is a very raw idea. We won’t know the guidance on how to re-open from Kirsty Williams until next week. That is an issue.
“We are all scrabbling around in the dark trying to come up with plans without official guidance yet. We are just getting on with it but may have to change plans we have made. It would have been helpful to have guidance this week.
“We have to dip our toe in at some point and can’t be in lockdown forever. The thing is to try to give children a meaningful experience when they do come in.
“There’s a different plan for each year group. Years seven and eight will do enterprise projects, year nines taster sessions for their GCSE options.
“Year 10s will catch up with subject teachers. That’s the year everyone is worried about. Work will be linked to their subjects.”
Mrs Jenkins aims to have pupils in one room in groups of eight learning at a social distance with one teacher and one teaching assistant. They will spend the whole day from 9am to 3pm together, so staff will only get very short breaks and no half hour lunch. The school will open from 8.30am until 9am for staggered arrival times.
The 460-pupil school is based in a Victorian building and has been operating successfully as a hub for vulnerable pupils and children of key workers. This means some of the planning, such as moving furniture, marking two metre distances and how best to clean has already been done.
But there are many more tasks. “It’s going to be a traumatic time for everyone. It feels rushed and everyone is grappling in the dark,” said Mrs Jenkins, who is also chair of Cardiff Primary Heads Association.
“I am worried about schools opening up to all year groups. I was not expecting this and it feels too sudden.
“As a nation the numbers are still fairly high in terms of Covid19. School staff and children should not be used as guinea pigs. Potentially, this is much too soon.
“It would have been helpful to have had as much information as possible.
“In Cardiff most of the 120 schools have been closed for months. We have just two and a half weeks to plan after guidance comes out.
“Parental expectation is a worry. People think their children will be going back to school, but that will be very different for a long time.
“The number of Covid-19 cases when schools closed was miniscule compared to now. I am worried but trying to reassure staff, parents and children.”
“I welcome schools opening but have reservations about how we can safely do that. The announcement was a b{t of a shock. Until we know the detail it is hard to comment on how it will work.”
Admitting one third of his pupils would mean up to 140 in the modern building at any one time, which would be a “major challenge” to do safely, he admitted.
But the school has operated successfully as a hub and he praised his local education authority, the Vale of Glamorgan, for its support.
“We are looking at plans to allow each year group in on different days in a safe way, we are not sure for how many days before the end of term. The primary concern is health, safety and wellbeing.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to have students in before summer to check on everyone and experience some normality.”
Mrs Parker said she has “faith” in the Welsh Government’s approach to schools so far in the pandemic and welcomed re-opening to some of her 1,000 students.