Edinburgh education chiefs watching how the return to school works in other European countries

Concerns over social distancing in full schools
Children of key workers are already having comply with social distancing rules when they attend hubs like the one at Drummond Community High SchoolChildren of key workers are already having comply with social distancing rules when they attend hubs like the one at Drummond Community High School
Children of key workers are already having comply with social distancing rules when they attend hubs like the one at Drummond Community High School

EDUCATION chiefs in the Capital are looking to other European countries to see how best to organise a return to school once the coronavirus lockdown is eased.

But high pupil numbers across the city will leave Edinburgh with an increased challenge in getting children back into class while still maintaining social distancing.

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No date has yet been set for schools to reopen. The Scottish Government said at the start of the lockdown it could not guarantee schools would be back before the summer holidays, but Education Secretary John Swinney has hinted holiday dates could be changed to get classes started earlier.

However, he also indicated any return was likely to be phased and could involve split classes and changes to the school day to allow for social distancing.

“In Edinburgh this is an absolutely critical issue,” said Edinburgh Southern Labour MSP Daniel Johnson. “We have some of the highest school rolls in Scotland, especially in our primary schools. At the best of times trying to get children under 12 to socially distance is bound to be a challenge, but when you have high class sizes in older school buildings I think that becomes almost an impossibility.”

And he warned having a rota arrangement for pupils to attend school could have a significant impact on their education.

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“We’re going to have to get our heads around the fact that when the schools do go back it might not be full time.

“If you reduce the amount of contact time the children have with teachers they are going to learn less.

“And the consequences and impacts on parents are going to be quite long-lasting, clearly well into the next school year and maybe for the whole of the next school year.”

City education convener Ian Perry said he hoped Edinburgh would be able to learn from the experience of other countries which were opening their schools earlier.

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Schools in Denmark became the first in Europe to reopen when children up to 11 returned two weeks ago, with desks two yards apart, parents not allowed inside the building, teachers unable to gather in the staff room and pupils told to wash their hands every hour or two. But some parents have kept their children off, worried about infection spreading. Secondary pupils are distance learning.

In France, schools are due to start going back on May 11 with 5-7 year-olds and top primary classes the first to return and the rest phased over the next two weeks. Classes will be divided into groups of up to 15 with some doing sport while others are taught in the classroom. Again, some parents say they won’t be sending their children back.

Cllr Perry said: “We are investigating all the possibilities and looking towards Europe because they are coming out of lockdown sooner, to see how they are managing the situation and we will learn lessons from that.”

Edinburgh has a total of 122 schools - 88 primaries, 23 secondaries and 11 special schools. But a report in December showed that this year four primaries and eight secondaries will be over capacity.

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Callum Laidlaw, Tory education spokesman on the council, said a workable model to cope with coronavirus needed to be in place as soon as possible.

He said: “I do share concerns about how, if social distancing has to continue throughout the year until we have a vaccine, that is going to work in our schools, particularly the ones which are at capacity.

“I think we need to look at how effective the home schooling programme has been. If that is working there is perhaps an opportunity to look at part-time schooling. But it’s important to get evidence because I’m concerned that model works very well for children from more advantaged backgrounds where parents can play a significant role while children from more disadvantaged backgrounds may really benefit from a classroom environment.”

Cllr Laidlaw said he was also concerned about the problems which might arise for parents if restrictions on businesses were lifted before schools went back.

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Alison Murphy, Edinburgh secretary for the biggest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, said the disruption for children of missing school for a prolonged period would mean a lengthy catch-up operation.

She said: “Whenever we go back to school, all our efforts for the first while are going to be focused on helping everyone adjust with a trauma that is still going on. You will have children who have been at home for a long period in really difficult situations. Everyone is going to be suffering from some degree of dislocation.

“Some children will have been able to cope reasonably well, accessing home learning resources and won’t have lost too much ground, but other children you can’t imagine what they will have had to put up with and the idea they will have been able to keep up with learning is just a nonsense. So all of next year will have to be a sort of recovery, reset phase anyway, which will look very different from place to place.”

It would have to be decided how many pupils could come in at one time. “Will we have shifts, or rotas, or different year groups in at different times?”

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And she said there would be all sorts of practical problems in terms of social distancing, from how to comfort a primary pupil who fell over in the playground to ensuring older pupils obeyed the restrictions. “The idea a group of teenagers are going to be walking down school corridors keeping two metres away from each other - of course it’s not going to happen.”

And she added: “We are going to have to think about everything from cleaning regimes in schools to what activities are going to be impossible to do because they rely on shared equipment - everything from playdough to bottles of chemicals.”

Meanwhile, the Scottish Parliament’s education committee is to examine the impact of coronavirus on children and young people.

MSPs will hear from young people and teachers about the impact the cancellation of the 2020 exams will have on them as well as their views on the planned assessment process.

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The committee will also look at the wellbeing of vulnerable children, including those in poverty and those with additional support needs. Committee convener Clare Adamson said: “We want to find out what more needs to be done to ensure none of these children’s needs are missed as a result of this crisis.

“We also cannot forget for some young people, it feels like their futures have changed beyond imagination. There is uncertainty and fear about what the cancellation of the 2020 exams means for them.”

ALISON MURPHY – EDINBURGH EIS SECRETARY

If we could wave a magic wand and get everyone safely back into schools tomorrow, that would be wonderful.

Staff are working incredibly hard to try to support pupils who are learning at home, as well as operating hubs for children of key workers.

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However, there is no doubt that home working is incredibly stressful for everyone.

And when we think about the pupils who might not have IT access; or a quiet place to work; those trapped in homes where there is abuse; and a host of other issues it becomes abundantly clear just how important schools are, and why home learning is never going to be as good as having children working directly with teachers.

However, schools are closed for a very good reason – to save lives. Until we can be sure that staff, children, and the families they go home to, will be safe from coronavirus, schools cannot reopen as normal.

We will have to think about the pupils and staff with underlying health issues who are going to have to stay shielded for the foreseeable future. We will need to think about social distancing – something that we all know is virtually impossible for small children and those working with them.

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Most important of all, next session will have to be about recovery. Everyone in education in Edinburgh is acutely conscious of the toll this crisis is having on mental health, as well as the impact on learning, and on the likely widening of the attainment gap. We are gong to have to ensure we have the resources to support children and staff who might well have experienced bereavement, and who will need help to process and to heal. We don’t yet know how we will do all the things we will need to do but we can be sure August 19, the date Edinburgh parents have in their diaries for kids to return after the summer holidays, will not look as any of us expected a couple of months ago.

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