Interview with Lisa Williams, Headteacher at Rushey Green Primary School
How has it felt for you and your staff in school to re-open for different year groups after lockdown?
We remained open after the school closure announcement in March, providing childcare for critical key workers – in particular NHS staff from nearby Lewisham Hospital.
From 1 June we invited Nursery, Reception, year 1 and year 6 children back to school. It has been wonderful to see more children and hear the noise of them laughing and playing in the playground.
As a teacher you really do build a strong bond with your class over the academic year. All our staff have really found it quite emotionally challenging to be separated from the children for such a long time, so the wider opening was a very welcome change for us. We would have liked this to be for more children, however the practicality of keeping them safe and apart in the building meant this was not possible for us.
What changes are there for pupils during the school day, and how have they adapted to this?
As much as possible we have tried to keep to a clear routine for the children. The biggest changes have been keeping them socially distanced. Children have not been able to play or learn or eat lunch with others outside of their bubble. Each bubble has been allocated a space to play on the playground. We are very lucky to have a large school site that the children are used to using. It has been quite sad to see them confined to a much smaller space than they are used to, and eating their lunch in a large hall with just a small group.
How has PPE equipment been used in school?
We have reserved using PPE equipment for intimate care purposes only, for example if we have needed to change a child or provide basic first aid. If children or staff have felt safer wearing a mask we have not discouraged this.
Did you receive any council support?
Lewisham Council has been incredibly supportive throughout. We were provided with PPE quite early on in the lockdown period just in case we needed to use it. Virtual weekly meets have ensured we all have an opportunity to work through the government guidance together.
We have been guided through the risk assessment process and been supported with the decisions we have had to make for the benefit of our children and community. There has never been a time where I have felt there wasn’t someone at the other end of the phone to talk through any concerns we might have.
We were also given a small number of laptops to distribute to children that did not have a device at home to work from.
How has online learning worked for your school?
Very quickly we had to adopt a new online learning platform, train all our staff and share how to use it with parents.I couldn’t be any more proud of my staff for getting this up and running as quickly as they did. It has allowed us to keep in touch with the children and provide them with weekly learning tasks. Class meetings on Zoom are great fun, and we have received some positive feedback from children and parents.