SCHOOL IS LEARNING NEW WAYS TO TEACH
PEER into a particular classroom in every corridor at Ysgol Coedcae in Llanelli and you will see a load of desks and chairs.
This furniture has been removed from other classrooms in order to ensure pupils can learn safely in small groups when they return on June 29.
Signs will remind the 11 to 16-year-olds to keep two metres apart and 110 hand sanitisers will be positioned around the buildings.
“We’re also looking at one-way flows and changes to the exits and entrances,” said head teacher Tracy Senchal.
Ysgol Coedcae, which has a mix of old and new buildings, has been chosen by Carmarthenshire Council as a pilot for the new way of working which all schools will have to adopt for the time being.
A video fly-through of the new layout and signs is being produced by the authority.
Classrooms at Ysgol Coedcae which normally accommodate 30 pupils will only hold six learners, who will maintain social distancing.
Perspex screens are being assessed for the school canteen serving hatch, and the fingerprint scanner – the cashless system pupils use to pay for school meals – won’t be used.
“It’s unlikely we’ll be operating the school canteen from June 29,” said Mrs Senchal.
“Social distancing will be the hardest challenge given pupils’ instincts to gravitate towards each other.
“Schools are about relationships and we have good relationships between staff and the pupils. And then it’s about having the right infrastructure.”
Every school in Carmarthenshire is sending out a survey to parents to get an idea of how many pupils will return on June 29.
Schools throughout Wales will be open to pupils from all year groups for limited periods during the week, with only a third of pupils in at any one time. The summer term has been extended by one week to July 27 and the autumn half-term holiday will be extended to two weeks.
Parents who choose not to send their children to school won’t be fined and pupils who fall into the shielding category will carry on with online learning.
Mrs Senchal said online learning during the lockdown had gone “very well”. Some pupils who didn’t perhaps do so well in the classroom had thrived, she said, although she said the willingness to engage had been varied.
“We have had to be pragmatic according to the circumstances,” she said.
The school has handed out 40 laptops and also helped set up internet connectivity for pupils to ensure they didn’t miss out.
Mrs Senchal said she felt for the pupils who had missed out on taking their
GCSEs and would not be able to have their end-ofyear prom.
Some pupils will start having tutorials next week and groups of teachers will return the week before June 29 to get a feel for the new layout.
“I’ve been overwhelmed, but not surprised, by the positivity of the staff,” said Mrs Senchal. “We’ve had a staff meeting every day via (Microsoft) Teams and we’ve been very open.
“They are determined that we work together to find solutions. Parents have also been fantastic.”
Online learning, she said, could not replace the classroom experience.
“The teacher is the most precious resource a school ha has,” she said.
“And for pupils school is ab about the social and perso sonal skills, developing co confidence, and understa standing yourself by seein ing yourself through the ey eyes of others.”
The school has 880 pu pupils and just over 100 st staff.
Mrs Senchal said: “June 29 is not going to be the ex experience they’re used to but it’s a move towards th the school being the vi vibrant, warm commun nity it was.”