Edinburgh schools are working out how to rearrange everything to cope with physical distancing for August 11 return

Options on rota systems being examined

Juniper Green Primary School is one of the hub schools catering for children of key workers

SCHOOLS across Edinburgh have started working how they will have to operate under physical distancing rules when pupils return on August 11.

Head teachers have to decide how to reorganise classrooms to keep children two metres apart, whether they can introduce a one-way system for moving round their school, how school dinners can be served and what will happen at break times.

City education convener Ian Perry said pupils would be returning to school part time and combining lessons in the classroom with learning at home, but no decision had been yet been made on how the rota would work.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced on Thursday that, subject to an assessment of the position on Covid-19 at the time, schools across Scotland would return on a standardised date of August 11, but with a “blended” model of school and home education.

Councillor Perry said: “This will mean the schools in Edinburgh go back a week early and we will have to rejig the holiday times so they recover that week at some other time.”

Some parents have expressed disappointment that the date change has disrupted holiday plans.

On Twitter, one dad said: “We moved our May holiday in the hope of getting some time away before our eldest started P1. Wife’s a nurse so no chance of booking a different week off now.”

But Cllr Perry said it seemed sensible for schools across the country to resume at the same time to avoid confusion.

He continued: “There are a number of options around how we do it - whether pupils go into school one week and are at home the next week, or whether some go in the mornings and others in the afternoons - and there are pluses and minuses in both arrangements.

“What we’re doing in Edinburgh is discussing with head teachers to get their views on it and how they think it’s best to operate and it may be we will come back with one solution but if there are different arrangements, so long as they all provide the same amount of support and teacher contact time, then I think we need to be flexible.

“The easiest thing would be to standardise it but I don’t think that’s going to be possible.

“We need to get the agreement of headteachers - they are the key people in this and they are the people that are going to make it work so we need to make sure anything we decide they are comfortable with.”

He said heads were looking at the practical aspects of how schools would cope with the need for physical distancing.

And he said arrangements would vary because of the wide range of city schools, from old Victorian buildings to brand new campuses.

“It will depend on the age of the school, the shape of the building, the size of the classrooms, the extent of outdoor space - there are lots of things to consider - and when you look at the variety of buildings we have got you understand the need to be flexible.”

Cllr Perry said the August 11 reopening meant there was time to plan carefully. “If we were trying to do this in the next two or three weeks that wouldn’t work but we have most of the summer to plan this out so that gives us ample opportunity to come up with bespoke solutions to the different issues and there’s no need to rush this. We need to take time to discuss this and examine all the possibilities.”

He said if the Covid infection rate continued to fall and testing and tracing was in place, parents would feel happier about sending their children back to school.

But he said: “Even then some parents might still not feel secure enough - but we’ve got to appreciate that. It’s not about forcing it, it’s about convincing people it’s safe.”

On the Evening News Facebook page, Tracey Carroll said: “My kids won’t go back to school until there is no more need for social distancing - if there is a need for distancing from each other then it is still not safe. My son is 7 and high risk with kidney disease not risking it until it is safe enough that 6 feet apart is no longer needed.”

Mark Stewart said: “If it’s safe then yes they should go back but if any doubts at all mine will be staying at home.”

But Emilia Zimnoch posted: “It is time for children get back to school. They already have a big backlog of learning and most will have a hard time catching up.”

And Anne Reid said: “I for one will be glad for the kids going back. Home schooling not easy when your needing to go out to work and look after a toddler on yours days off.”

Adam Wilson said: “They need to provide more detail on the ‘blended learning’ and how that’s supposed to work with parents with jobs they may have to go back to the workplace for.”

Alison Murphy, Edinburgh secretary of teaching union the EIS, said the August 11 return date had come as a shock to some people. But she said she understood part of the reasoning for a standardised date was that schools quango Education Scotland would be playing a bigger role in providing online learning materials and it would allow better co-ordination.

She said: “Some people will have made arrangements and I would expect those to be honoured.”

And she added: “It could be argued that losing a week when there are still going to be massive restrictions and having it some other time might be to everyone’s benefit.”

But she warned preparing schools to fit with physical distancing was a complex task, though some lessons could be taken from the hub schools which have been catering for children of key workers during the lockdown.

“We’re literally going to have to rearrange every single classroom, try to bring in one way systems, measure classrooms and say how many kids can we fit in, think about how we do lunches safely.

“We will take what we’ve learned from the hubs and think how we can scale it up to well over 100 schools and potentially using other buildings as well.

“It’s a huge logistical exercise and its crucial its done right because its literally life and death.”

She said there would also be issues around public transport to get not only pupils, but also staff who did not have a car, to school.

And she pointed out the First Minister had made the August 11 return conditional.

“Nicola Sturgeon has been quite clear: it’s August if the infection rate is still low, if transmission has dropped.

“One of the awful things we will have to factor into all our planning is the possibility we might have to go back into lockdown - we’re obviously all hoping and praying that we don’t but we would be crazy not to allow for that.”