The health and wellbeing of pupils and staff is paramount – Cllr Ian Perry

Ian Perry says the reopening of the city’s schools is a testament to the efforts of ‘Team Edinburgh’

Cllr Ian Perry is education convener at Edinburgh City Council

Today young people across the city are going back to school – but this is not like any other year. It’s been five months since they were back in their classes learning because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our teaching staff and teams across the council have been working really hard in getting schools ready for their reopening today. One of the highest priorities for us over the summer has been ensuring that pupils and staff return to the safest possible environment.

We’ve been doing that by following the most up to date Government and Health Protection Scotland advice and putting in place strict hygiene measures to keep everyone safe. The health and wellbeing of all our young people and staff is at the heart of our reopening plans.

Pupils are returning to school today (Picture: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

We believe that a phased return is the best way of giving pupils time to familiarise themselves with their new arrangements in place for their schools. Some of them will naturally be anxious about what the new ‘normal’ is going to be like and it is going to be different.

Entrances to school buildings will have hand sanitisers for use by staff and pupils, with more in classrooms. Stocks of soap and sanitiser will be checked every day and posters will displayed to encourage pupils to wash their hands regularly. Classrooms will be well ventilated and all school areas will be cleaned daily by staff in line with latest government guidance.

Although pupils will not be required to follow strict social distancing, measures will be in place to limit physical interactions where possible and follow government guidelines in maintaining separate groups or clusters in schools.

Teaching staff will also maintain the two-metre social distancing rules until the government guidelines change.

With extra money from the Scottish Government we’re going to able to recruit around 100 newly qualified teachers and purchase more than 2,000 digital devices for those pupils most in need.

The principles of equity and consistency are key for us as the impact on families now experiencing poverty due to Covid-19 is all too clear. Our additional support needs and psychological services teams are putting in place plans for a nurturing environment to help pupils reconnect their trusted relationships and build resilience.

Everyone is relieved that our young people are back in school. However, we have to remember that this is as long as the virus continues to be suppressed. If there is a need for a localised closure then we will use the blended model of learning that is a key element of our robust contingency plans.

I sincerely hope these will never need to be used but if they do then I’m confident these detailed plans demonstrate our commitment to ensuring the best teaching and learning for all pupils across the whole city.

This has been a huge ‘Team Edinburgh’ effort to get our schools reopening today and enormous praise must go to everyone involved – the numerous council teams, teaching staff, parents and carers for their support over the past five months . . . and most of all our young people for the resilience they have shown in these challenging times.

Cllr Ian Perry is education convener at Edinburgh City Council