'The kids’ wellbeing has been number one': Edinburgh pupils return to class for the first time since March

Parents Mairi and Tom Cowley walk their daughter Lilyanna to Flora Stevenson Primary School as she starts P5 after five months out of the classroom

Pupils across the Capital returned to school on Wednesday morning after spending nearly five months away from classrooms.

When coronavirus restrictions were put in place in March, classrooms were forced to close and thousands of children were sent home from school not knowing when they would return.

While many schools in the city are taking a phased approach back, the Scottish Government has said that schools should be fully open by next Tuesday (August 18).

Pupils attending are not required to follow strict social distancing rules, but measures are in place in secondary schools to actively encourage physical distancing.

While the return to schools may bring some sense of normality back to families across the country, with many parents taking on a new challenge of being a teacher, things will look a little different to the usual back to school experience.

In Edinburgh primary schools, to enable families to plan around the start of the school session, children with surnames beginning with the letters A to L returned to school first on Wednesday for the whole day but will not return to school again until Friday 14 August.

Children with surnames beginning with the letters M to Z will return on Thursday 13 August and attend again on Friday 14 August. From Friday 14 August, all primary pupils will attend full time.

Secondary school and special school pupils have also seen a staggered return with lunch, PE and start and finish time arrangements differing in each school.

In Monday’s coronavirus briefing, the First Minister acknowledged that teachers, parents and pupils may feel anxious about going back to school, but assured those concerned that the guidance had been carefully worked through and informed by scientific advice.

She said: "Schools have worked really hard to support pupils through lockdown but we know the impact on education, on wellbeing, on happiness has been negative for young people so to get them back into full-time education has to be a priority."

At Flora Stevenson Primary School this morning, a number of parents said goodbye to their children as they went back to school for the first time in months.

A one-way system was in place for children to enter and parents had drop off times and gates around the building to go to to ensure a smooth transition.

There was mixed emotions amongst parents but overall, parents were relieved at their children returning to a normal routine and praised the school’s head teacher Sharon McGhee for her organisation and keeping parents informed and at ease.

‘We’ll enjoy normality as long as it lasts, but we’re not taking anything for granted.’

Rebecca Clacy-Jones, parent council representative at Flora Stevenson said: “I am really excited for me, my children are really excited. I’ve got a P1 that starts today and she’s been ready to go to school since last year.

“I think it’s amazing to see the people, the balloons, to know our staff have worked so hard to get everyone back in and Ms McGhee has been really awesome at making that connection and making everyone feel part of the school community.

“There are definitely some people who were worried and a bit concerned and an expectation that transmission rates are gonna go up and that’s going to be a natural defence, but my son was delighted to go back this morning.”

Emma Aitken who has two children in P2 and P4 added: “I’m feeling great about them going back to school, they’re really looking forward to it - they’ve said they're a little bit nervous but a little bit excited. I think it's the best thing for them and looking forward to a bit of freedom.

“I had to do homeschooling on top of doing a little bit of work as well myself so it was quite a challenge.

“The school has been incredible, we have the best head teacher - we are so lucky she has been so amazing. She’s been doing videos to help out with tips and tricks and things about coming back.

“The kids’ wellbeing has been number one instead of just getting the school open.”

Lindsay Coulton has two boys in P4 and P6. She said: “I’m absolutely overjoyed that they're going back to school. They’ve missed their friends and their routine. They were really unimpressed with having their parents as teachers so I think they’re desperate to get back to the community of the school.

“As parents working from home it will make a huge difference to our productivity and what we can achieve in a day so it's going to be good for all of us. We’re all relieved that we can stand down as teachers and can let the professionals take it from here.

“In some ways the transition back to school has caught up with us a bit because the summer holidays are shorter than they would have been. I think we hadn’t prepared properly because when we put their trousers on this morning they were about four inches too short!

"In terms of getting the kids ready for coming back, we’ve been talking to them about what it will be like and how it might be a bit different. I think they’re so delighted to be back they are fine with it all.”

Evangelos Assimakos who has a daughter in P2 added: “My daughter was very excited to be coming back, it’s been more than four months now since the school closed so she was looking forward to seeing her friends and some normality.

"We as parents can’t help but be a bit apprehensive about whether all the measures will be adhered to at school, how the children will behave in terms of social distancing and personal hygiene.

“We really hope and trust that the school has taken on all the necessary precautions and we’ll have to see how government guidelines evolve over the next few weeks and months with regards to whether we have another wave or lockdowns will have to return but we’ll enjoy normality as long as it lasts.

“It’s been hard on us as parents with homeschooling but with the intervening summer period we had a bit of time to feel normal and we’ll see now how long this new normal persists but we’re not taking anything for granted.”

Patrick George has a child at the primary school, and also one transitioning to high school. He said: “I work from home so I couldn’t be happier. It is mixed feelings because we’ve been used to having them around and we’ll miss them - our oldest is going into S1 so that’s stressful and coronavirus makes us a little nervous about what’s going to happen, but I’m going to enjoy the peace and quiet in my house for the first time in five months.

“I think the kids were enjoying being at home and not changing out of their pjs for a week straight. They’re excited about seeing their friends but the school work, less so.

“The school has worked with what they were given and been good at pushing out information and have done the best they could.”

Mairi Cowley’s daughter joined P5 this morning. She said: “It’s mixed emotions, I think she's going to be fine. She'll have grown up a bit over the lockdown and changed in lots of different ways so I think she is just ready to go back and see her friends, see her teacher. We’re all quite nervous it’s all quite different at the moment but we just need to get there and get it done.

“She has the same teacher and classroom so the transition for her will be a bit easier. We knew the set up here and how it was all going to happen so it has seemed to run quite smoothly.”

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