A local independent day and boarding school in Bushey has been working hard on a phased reopening strategy that will see pupils from Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 reintroduced to school.
In line with current government advice to bring certain year groups back into classroom setting before the summer is out, the school’s priority is to protect its vulnerable staff, pupils and their families as it looks to rekindle some sense of ‘school life’ for its pupils.
New processes being adopted by the school include creating smaller classes delivered in larger rooms and managing skeleton-led ‘socially distanced’ break times.
Headteacher at St Margaret’s School, Lara Péchard, explained: “We are fortunate as a school to have a big site with extensive outdoor grounds and some big classrooms.
“Although we are under no illusion that reintroducing pupils back into school will take careful planning and consideration.
“We intend to keep our class sizes very small. We also plan to continue with our successful remote learning programme at same time for the remainder of our pupils.”
The school will only move forward with the phased reopening if things progress as the Government hopes and accepts that all plans are conditional and responsive only to scientific advice.
Ms Péchard continued: “Our approach has to be very carefully handled and with the right messaging enforced. Right now for schools, this is a logistical puzzle with lots of human information to factor in.
Parents have been hugely supportive and our school will do its best to juggle all imperatives. The priority is of course safety.”
Understanding of the demands placed upon parents, St Margaret’s is keen to get its pupils back into school for pastoral benefits and to establish some sense of routine again, even if that means a somewhat compromised offering.
She added: “We are considering all manner of circumstances and viewpoints as every child’s needs are different.
“For some parents, managing small children at home is very demanding and for others, they simply won’t be bringing children in this term, as they may not feel comfortable doing so.
“As a school we feel strongly that we have to try and do our best for everyone and to consider all circumstances.”
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