SHIREBROOK Academy principal Mark Cottingham speaks about how very different the Derbyshire school is these days…
“The social distancing tape is freshly stuck to the floor, we’ve devised a one-way system around the building and have even changed the shape of the tables our students eat their lunch at, from round to oblong.
“And so, we are as ready as we can be for post-lockdown teaching, when we try to return to some kind of semblance of normality by increasing the number of students in school by accommodating our Year 10s, alongside the 20 or so children of key workers and vulnerable families who have had the place to themselves for the past 10 weeks.
“It’s taken us many hours and we have followed official advice that has repeatedly changed direction to get where we are, but, having been teaching and working via our computers for nearly three months, we are looking forward to increasing our numbers, even if our returning cohort are just a small percentage of our overall school population.
“We know, however, that we can only do the very best we can to reduce and prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and understand the fears that everybody, staff, parents and students, may have about transmission.
“Even though we have put in place every measure we can think of, we also know that our system, just like the queuing and distancing systems in place in Asda or Aldi or everywhere else such measures have been put in place, is not 100% risk-free.
“Nothing can be risk-free, and I know that at school I’ll be doing the odd dance you do with people to get by them without getting too close to them, or that I may be forced to break the two metre rule when a student asks me to come to check their written work.
READ MORE: Students from Royal School for Deaf encourage deaf community to remember the holocaust
“There will be many challenges like that ahead, and all we can do is do our best, by reminding our students to wash their hands and refrain from touching their faces.
“We will all be sensible and, while we’re getting used to it, we’ll continue to draw up a plan of action for our next big challenge – preparing a safe environment for when all of our year groups return to school in September.”
