SCHOOL DAZE Pupils, parents and teachers anxious as classes resume
SCOTLAND’S schools began to reopen yesterday – with many pupils, parents and teachers still expressing anxiety over Covid-19. Only Borders and some Shetland schools reopened to pupils, with the vast majority of Scots children heading back today. All pupils will return by next Tuesday. Fears have been raised about how well-prepared teachers are to deal with mitigating the spread of the virus. The Government has spent £75million investing in 1400 more teachers to support education recovery. Guidance has been drawn up to create a safe environment in schools but Educational Institute of Scotland general secretary Larry Flanagan said about 80 per cent of his union’s members had expressed “deep concerns” about safety. He said: “One of the areas of particular concern is around the absence of physical distancing among young students and that’s one of the areas where they think face coverings could be a mitigation that would make everyone safer.”
Some pupils also have concerns while some parents feel their kids are being used as “guinea pigs”.
Sixth-year pupil Eva McKeown admitted: “I feel a little bit anxious because we are coming into an open environment for pupils for the first time since March and nothing is going to be the same.
“School is now somewhere that is a risk because there are pupils who could be carrying the virus walking about school, increasing the risk of taking it home to someone in my family, or I could hurt someone if I am a carrier.
“People my age are not as susceptible to the virus and I know a lot of people are not thinking about the risks but it preys on my mind because coronavirus hasn’t gone away for us yet.” Eva, who attends Queen
Margaret Academy in Ayr, and her brother Shay, 12, who starts first year there tomorrow, are particularly concerned about getting the virus and bringing it home to their grandparents.
The bright pupil, from Troon, said: “It is not something I am willing to risk. My grandad is in the vulnerable category so I am extremely careful around him and my other grandparents.”
Eva said her mum Dawn, 48, is more relaxed about their return. “Mum is looking forward to us getting back to a normal environment.
“She thinks it will be positive mentally for us. Lockdown has had an impact on my brother and I. Staying in every day does take a toll on you. But, like my aunties, who also have kids going back to school, she will be anxious.”
As a school captain Eva expects one of her duties will be to reassure fellow pupils.
But she said: “It will be hard to calm people down when I don’t know how I feel. Walking back
into school is walking into the unknown.”
At the other end of the scale is Leanne Hamilton’s daughter Jessica, four, who will return to Ferryhill Nursery in Edinburgh today.
Leanne said: “She is very excited to be going back. She just wants to be with her friends again.”
The mum of two admitted: “I am nervous but I do think it is the best for her.
“I feel she has missed out on a lot in the past five months by not being there and interacting with kids her own age.
“So long as the nursery has put appropriate measures in place to keep everything clean, it will be better for her. It is a risk but one worth taking.”
Primary pupils have no restrictions on their movement but, as Oliver and Murray Rodger prepare to head off to Glenburn Primary in Prestwick, dad Calum has no fears.
Calum, 30, and his wife Alex are both key workers so the wee ones have been at school right up to the summer holidays.
Calum said: “The only thing that will feel strange is Murray starting primary one and only one of us can go into the playground with him.
“Alex will be emotional because her baby is starting P1 and I won’t even be allowed in the playground.” Oliver has no fears about restarting school – his only concern is his brother joining him as “he can be very annoying sometimes”.
Lynne Barrowman’s youngest child Hollie will go into P2 at Our Lady of the Rosary in Mosspark, Glasgow. The mum said: “I have not got corona anxiety but I am definitely cautious.”
Lynne, from Paisley, said: “Hollie said to me she thought she would cry on Thursday. I thought it was because we had been locked up together for so long and she would miss me but she said it was because she would be happy seeing her friends again.”