Schools adapt to learning under second wave

With some already reopened and others preparing for learners on Monday, schools have gone to great lengths to ensure a safe environment for their staff and learners.

Pietermaritzburg Girl’s High School (GHS) has adopted a phased-in approach to re-entering the classroom. Grades 8 to 11 will attend school on alternative days. Grade 12s will attend every day.

“We have also had to set up large venues to accommodate groups of up to 30 learners with the requisite 1.5 metre social distancing,” said GHS Principal, Andrew Graaf.

The school will also continue to use online teaching platforms as much as possible, with some subject lessons taking place online.

“Our motto for 2021 is ‘Thriving and surviving’,” Graaf added.

Maritzburg College is also ready to welcome their boys back to the school on Monday. The school has prepared thoroughly to ensure it is ready.

“College has already hosted the Health Department on campus to discuss the current trends of the virus and receive updates and protocols required for best practice in Covid-19,” the school’s marketing manager, Sally Upfold, confirmed.

Online learning has already started on February 3 to make up for the lost time due to the delayed start of the year.

St Charles College (SCC) is pleased to have nearly full attendance of learners in their first week back. “We take temperatures, wear masks, sanitise hands on entry to the school and into each classroom, wipe down each desk and chair each lesson, ventilate spaces and keep as much distance from each other as possible throughout the day,” said SCC Principal Allen Van Blerk.

The school has moved their assemblies to a digital platform and has added an extra week to the end of the school year to make up for the delayed start.

St John’s has also been back for a week and said the return back to the school has been “seamless”. “The girls are familiar with the protocols and routines from last year. We all wear masks, keep social distancing, wash hands and sanitise regularly,” St John’s marketing head, Sarah Cole-edwards, confirmed.

In the junior school, parents are now no longer allowed to walk their children to their classrooms, however, Cole-edwards said, the girls have embraced their new independence. Assemblies and chaplain services are prerecorded and played in registration classes.

Epworth returned to the physical classroom last week, but have been having online lessons since January 20. Epworth’s Marketing Head, Vicky Crookes, said the first week back has been “productive and positive.”

“Our theme for the year is: ‘Together we can’ so we are all committed to overcoming every challenge thrown our way and to not let this pandemic dampen our spirits or our resolve to offer our learners a first-class learning experience,” she said.