CORONAVIRUS: It's back to school for many this week...but not as normal

The Government has asked schools to re-open for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 from today as part of ongoing moves to ease the country out of lockdown.

But many parents are thought to be reluctant to send children back yet – and there are also some schools that have decided not to open their doors.

And for those that do, it is going to be a very different model of schooling for pupils, teachers, parents, and staff.

In Lincolnshire, the county council as local education authority has left the decision as to whether they re-open to individual schools.

Schools that are part of the Infinity Academy group in the Boston district will be initially just re-opening for Year 6.

The group’s chief executive Gavin Booth says that will be reviewed on a weekly basis, but said: “Our approach is very much…. go slow, review and then increase when we feel confident to do so.”

He stressed that this wasn’t back to school as normal, and it was for parents to make their own decision, looking at all the information, as to whether they send their child back.

And he said some of the messages from the Government around had been conflicting, with a national focus remaining on the need to social distance, which is “incredibly difficult” in a school setting.

“I find some of the messages quite conflicting around bringing larger groups of people together at a school being okay but this is something we are told must not happen in the wider public.”

Speaking on Monday, Martin Smith, interim assistant director for education for the council, said the majority of schools in the county were starting to re-open to wider groups – but stressed that decision rested with the schools.

“We are sure that each has the best interests of their pupils and staff at heart,” he said.

Schools have had to introduce a number of measures to limit the potential spread of coronavirus, such as smaller class sizes or staggered break times, helping to keep pupils and staff safe as they return to the classroom.

Mr Smith said: “We realise some parents are uncertain about sending their children back to school at this stage, and the government has said that they can continue to keep them at home for the time being if they prefer.

“There are a range of resources available to families allowing children to continue their learning at home."

Mr Booth said they had decided to start with just Year 6 pupils as they would be better equipped to follow social distancing measures and be able to understand why school was so different.

“We will then review on a weekly basis and when we are confident begin to extend our offer to other year groups,” he said.

Adapting schools to encourage social distancing measures had been “very challenging”.

“Schools are by design social places and learning requires really effective interaction between pupils, their friends and school staff in order for concepts to be taught and understood.

“To try and create spaces that have limited shared resources, where tables are socially distanced and where pupils need to work independently at a single desk is very different for us.”

He said schools would look and feel very different now to when most pupils were last there in March.

“Our classrooms and corridors will be arranged differently, many of our pupils will not be taught by their usual teacher, our before and after school provision won’t be in place initially and we will be constantly reinforcing social distancing and hygiene. “This is not back to school as normal. Parents need to make their own decision given all of the information they have about their child returning to school.

“We will be doing our absolute best to give children a positive experience when they return and ensuring they understand all that we are putting in place to keep everyone as safe as possible.”

He said there had been a huge amount of guidance sent to schools, some of it useful, but some contradictory, and it had often arrived on weekends or late in the evening.

“Schools have had to re-write plans several times over as new information has been sent through. Schools have done a great job of putting it all together to formulate their plans but each school will no doubt have come up with a slightly different approach to manage this situation,” he said.

“It’s important that at this time we don’t compare what each school is doing as every school is unique.”

Mr Booth said pupils, families and staff had all been amazing throughout the lockdown.

“They have adapted so brilliantly to these challenges. Our schools have created new ways of using online learning, contacting parents and pupils for well-being chats, provided free school meal hampers where required and created a provision for Key Worker and Vulnerable children all in an incredibly short space of time.

“We have worked hard to keep parents informed and they have been very supportive throughout the pandemic. I’m extremely proud of how our Trust has responded.”