Let’s all be careful on return to school

IT’S the start of a new school year, except it is far from normal. With thousands of pupils set to pour through school gates across Wales this week, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will be at the forefront of the minds of students, teachers and parents alike.

With children learning from home for the best part of five months since lockdown in March, returning to the classroom might come as a relief but also with some trepidation.

Coronovirus is still with us, albeit circulating at a lower level now, and scientists believe it will be with us for a long time to come.

So naturally parents and guardians will be anxious about sending their children back to school.

Earlier this summer Education Minister Kirsty Williams announced that schools in Wales would be returning full-time in September, with pupils being grouped together in “contact groups” of around 30 pupils.

It’s a far cry from the past five months, when schools have been shut, children separated from friends and parents forced to come to grips with Google Classroom tutorials.

Some have argued that getting back to school and returning to some sort of “new normal” is the way forward.

It’s striking the balance between health concerns and caring for the mental health of our youngsters.

Staying at home indefinitely to work remotely will not do our children any good, some have claimed.

The social aspect of the playground and lunchtime at school is just as important as the curriculum for any child’s development.

The key here is small steps, taking it week by week, or even day by day, as pupils get the autumn term under way.

No-one has all the answers to any one aspect of this virus. After all, it was only discovered at the end of last year and there is still much to learn about it.

So while the scientific community around the world rallies to find a vaccine, we must firstly stay safe and yet try to get the rhythm of everyday life back on track as best we can.

Of course no-one is expecting plain sailing. If cases do start to rise again, the UK Government’s advice at the end of last week suggested it may be necessary to keep certain year groups off school again, or to have periods of weeks in school and weeks at home learning. As was stated at the start of this pandemic, we are all in this together and we must work together.