No more excuses, our children’s education must get back to normal – Jayne Dowle

It’s the Return to School Guidance. Summer holidays start today but Lizzie is definitely going back, full time, in September, with some new school blouses and a longer skirt to ease the transition out of tracksuit bottoms and hoodies. I swear she’s grown three inches in height since March.

The booklet covers everything from the staggered return dates for each year group to the school-issue water bottles every student must purchase at a cost of £1.20 to ensure everyone keeps themselves well hydrated.

Teenagers will always spot the flaw. Lizzie points out that if everyone has the same kind of water bottle, it’s going to get very confusing and is hardly Covid-proof. This could possibly be the first of many hitches in the well-laid plans.

Interestingly, no one at her school will be obliged to wear a mask or face covering, unless for religious reasons.

I’m not sure entirely how this squares with the Prime Minister’s insistence that all shoppers in England must be masked or face fines.

I’d argue that sitting in a classroom for six hours a day in close proximity to around 30 other people is far more of a potential threat than standing behind half a dozen in a supermarket queue for 10 minutes. Then again, I’ve given up trying to apply the laws of logic to our Prime Minister, so I’ll just park that one for now.

More importantly, in terms of actual education, I remain to be convinced over school plans for virtual or “blended” learning.

In the handbook, there are detailed instructions on what will happen in the case of a student or staff member testing positive for Covid-19 but not much indication of what would happen to teaching and learning should the school have to close.

As a Year 10 student, Lizzie will be starting her GCSEs. I sincerely hope that should school shutdown loom again, I won’t be hearing the same excuses about why virtual classrooms via Zoom, or suchlike, aren’t feasible.

Teachers have now had months to prepare for such an eventuality. Some schools, notably the grammar and independent sectors, have managed it. Other schools definitely require extra guidance and resources. A few free Government-issue laptops are not the answer.

Yes, I have been guilty of asking in no uncertain terms what some of Lizzie’s teachers have been doing with themselves since lockdown began. However, it certainly looks like the senior leadership team has been busy.

The school is implementing rigorous cleaning regimes and has divided up the teaching space into “corridors” for each year group. Students will move between rooms within each corridor but will not leave their specified area for lessons.

At break times and lunch they will be required to stay in their own year groups, supervised by staff. All extra-curricular clubs and activities will be cancelled until at least half term.

The booklet is comprehensive, if a little daunting. It is clear that organising 900 students, plus staff and support workers, will be no easy task.

By September 10, the whole school will be back, following the directive from Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. It’s impossible for anyone, parent, teacher or student, to imagine what it will be like when this “new normal” becomes their everyday routine.

Lizzie’s main concern, that she will be able to study all the GCSE options she has chosen, has been solved. There will be no enforced change of plan. Her second worry, that there will be plentiful food at lunchtime, is harder to predict.

Above all, it’s important that all schools, not just Lizzie’s academy secondary, accept that children and young people are returning to the classroom with anxieties and fears they may find difficult to articulate.

Listening to Lizzie talking through her worries on group chat with her friends, I’d say this will mean pretty much all of them at some point or another.

No teacher or school leader can think of everything or account for every single trip hazard in this brave new world. There are going to be flashpoints and ideas that don’t quite pan out, despite those best-laid plans.

As a parent, I’ll be behind them every step of the way. I might not agree with every decision but I’ll try to see all sides of every issue as it arises.

Can Gavin Williamson and the Prime Minister, hand on heart, say the same? September will be here before we know it and then the real test will begin.