Private sector teachers given visors and ‘sanitiser kits’

INDEPENDENT schools are preparing to open their doors next week to secondary pupils with protective measures including plastic visors for teachers, temperature checks for students and “sanitiser” kit bags for staff.

Amid growing concerns that many state schools are struggling to bring back classes, most fee-paying schools are expected to open next week for Year 10 and Year 12 pupils who will be taught on daily rotas.

Among them are Eton College, which has opened its bank of online classes to all pupils free during the pandemic, and Reigate Grammar, where staff have produced visors designed from plastic photocopy paper not only for teachers but also an extra 1,000 for NHS staff.

“We are giving all the teachers a visor of see-through plastic for their lessons because it is very difficult to talk with a face mask on and be understood,” said Shaun Fenton, head of Reigate Grammar and vice-chairman of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference.

Other innovations range from the hitech – infrared thermometers to check children on arrival – to “old-tech” door wedges to ensure a free flow of air during classes as well as minimising the amount of contact between hands and door knobs to open and shut them.

All teachers have been issued with health bags including antibacterial sprays and wipes, and hand sanitisers.

‘We are giving all the teachers a visor ... it is very difficult to talk with a face mask on’

Reigate Grammar is also considering whether face masks, antibacterial wipes and hand sanitisers should become “essential items” on its uniform list for the foreseeable future. It has already requested washable uniforms so they bear up to being cleaned more regularly.

The approach extends beyond the Government’s guidelines of staggered breaks and start times, one-way systems and “socially distancing” desk dividers to ensure that children stay two metres apart.

Mr Fenton acknowledged that the nationwide academic gap may have grown during the lockdown between children from less advantaged backgrounds and those who had computers to access lessons from home. “That’s why we need to get schools open again and children back,” he said.

Reigate lent laptops to its pupils who might not have been able to access not only its online lessons but music concerts, drama, CCF and virtual museum trips that it organised for pupils.

It is planning to run a summer school for both its children and local disadvantaged pupils, and is also offering 10 means-tested bursaries for children of NHS workers.

The King’s School in Macclesfield – which this week brought back its reception and primary pupils – will next week open its senior school for Years 10 and 12 with a condensed day to minimise breaks and accommodate a timetable that includes online lessons for those still at home.