How schools are safely returning after the long break
Staff have done an amazing job to make sure everything is safe for pupils, staff and parents. Well done to them for their hard work putting safety measures in place so speedily.
Schools in Hammersmith, Chiswick and Shepherds Bush went back this week after the longest summer break in history.
As Rosie Peters, Deputy Head at Wendell Park Primary in Shepherds Bush, puts it: “It’s been a very long summer because we’ve had nearly six months off school!”
This year has been the strangest one many of us will ever live through, and the gap from March means that September’s usual back-to-school feeling has been more intense than ever.
Some will be feeling very nervous about going back to school. Rosie describes the six-month lockdown as “really, really strange”, filled with remote learning at home.
Wendell Park Primary’s other Deputy Head, Elena Hough, outlined some of the changes that students and parents will notice.
“It has been a very strange time, but the teachers and staff at all the schools have been working hard before the summer, and during the summer, to make sure schools are ready for everyone to come back.”
Desks may have been moved to face one direction, surfaces in classrooms are clear so it’s easier to keep them clean, thorough hand-washing is now a regular part of school life, and playgrounds and school entrances have new markings and signs to remind everyone about social distancing rules.
Full risk assessments have been carried out at all schools and colleges throughout west London.
Elena says: “I know when the children started to come back to Wendell Park, all of our children were absolutely fantastic at remembering that they needed to stay a little bit further apart than normal.”
She even adds that the children have been so good about keeping their distance that it acts as a helpful reminder to the teachers too!
“The teachers are looking forward to seeing you, and starting a new year seeing all the smiling faces,” she says.
School is the place to be
The message from all schools in Hammersmith, Chiswick and Shepherds Bush is that – after the lockdown restrictions – it’s the most important place to be.
That’s underlined by Dr Liz Whittaker, Paediatric Infectious Diseases Consultant at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, who says: “What’s really reassuring is that very, very few children have been affected by the Covid-19 disease.
“Of the children who have been affected, most have had a very mild disease; in fact, just like having a little normal cold.”
She says that the risks to children’s futures are greater if they don’t return to school to “see their friends, get back into a routine and start learning again”.
School is vital to support children’s social and emotional health and their mental health, and Dr Whittaker urges any parents who still have worries to talk to their doctor or to teachers.
Some school start times have changed, to make entering and leaving school safer, while other schools have created bubbles of smaller school groups to reduce mixing between years.
The important thing to remember, as schools return, is that if anyone in the family is feeling unwell to stay at home, call NHS 111 and find out if you’re eligible for a Covid-19 test and that you have that test before re-entering school or work.
Dr Whittaker also reminds parents to make sure that children are up to date with their vaccinations.
“School is a safe place for children to be… and it’s probably the best place for them to be,” says the consultant.
