Guest Blog from Emma Meadus, Head Teacher Coppice Valley Primary School.
There’s no doubt that this September’s return to school was different. Nerves and excitement are normal – parents, children and teachers included – but this year we were all a bit more anxious than usual because instead of it just being 6 weeks that we’d been away from school, for some children and staff it was more like 6 months. Plus, we’ve all had to learn new behaviours and ways of working around the virus. It’s a lot to deal with but deal with it we have. Onwards and upwards as they say!
The first thing that struck me about having all the children back in school is just how good it is to hear the whole school playing outside again (even if it is in socially distanced bubbles). There’s nothing quite like the sound of happy children playing together to stop you in your tracks and make you take stock of what matters. If I’m getting bogged down in my office with all the risk assessments, finances and hand-sanitiser orders, I’ve been going outside for a few minutes to listen to and watch the children play and remind myself what it’s really all about.
It’s still a bit weird though, to be honest. No assembly, no school dinners in the hall and worst of all no singing together. There’s lots of brilliant stuff going on in the class bubbles but that feeling of whole school-ness and community is still missing. We’re doing our best to make up for it with virtual assemblies, emails and zoom chats but it can’t replace real face-to-face contact. I look forward to the day we can be together properly as a school.
Having said that though, the situation with coronavirus has forced us to think differently and be innovative in our problem-solving. There are some things that we’ve had to do and discovered we like better than before. Whole school playtimes are not allowed right now, so we’re using parts of our grounds we’ve never used before for playtime, like the front of school garden area. The children love it and its so good to see the area used, to see children watering the vegetables, weaving on the loom and playing around the trees. Why have we never done this before, we’ve been saying?
Our Year 1 classroom has transformed to cater for coronavirus rules. Initially, stripping out excess furniture and resources was awful. Having to have children sitting in rows (so they are not face-to face as the guidance says) at this young age just felt wrong. With a bit of creative thinking, we’ve come up with a solution that meets safety requirements and the children’s needs. A large circle of desks around the outside of the room and a large sitting circle space in the centre of the room have been a revelation. With all the space available, the uses of the room are unlimited – lessons can be on the floor or at desks, drama and yoga lessons are easily accommodated and the teacher can see everyone easily. There’s room to play and learn safely. Our Year 1 teacher doesn’t want to go back to her old classroom layout when things go back to normal.
Something else that was bothering us was how to have the children’s school photos taken. The school guidance encourages schools to have as few visitors coming into school as possible currently. But we know how much families love their children’s school photos, especially if it’s the first or last year of primary school. We’ve found a safe way to do it with School House Photography, a Harrogate company that specialises in taking outdoor photos of children in natural light. With our beautiful grounds, this is something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while but never done. These tricky times have been the push I needed to do things differently.
Don’t get me wrong, we’re going to be delighted when, one day, all the corona rules and restrictions are lifted. In the meantime, we’re doing our best and finding that a few things actually work better for us.
