I’m a teacher in a primary school in Liverpool. The kids left in high-spirits and I hope this has carried on through-out their time at home. I’m hoping they’re still as eager to learn as they were before. Schools can be a support system as well as a place to learn, so I hope they are all coming back in the right frame of mind!

We’re very worried about the Government plan for going back to school. We’re currently being left in the dark about when students will return and feel like we will not be given appropriate notice!

I’m concerned about how schools will be able to manage social distancing. I cannot see how this will work unless there is some element of shifts in when classes attend so that the children who would normally be in one class can be split between more than one room. They would to need to stay in that group throughout the shift and the classroom would need to be cleaned thoroughly between shifts (by ???)Many schools have narrow corridors and multiple door handles to negotiate due to fire safety regulations.
Parents would need to queue 2m apart to collect children etc. It’s far from simple and the clamours for returns to school in the press don’t really help because, at the moment, it can’t be school as we knew it although that’s what everyone yearns for.
I’m also concerned about staff members classified as vulnerable through ill-health or who appear fit but are on medication that reduces immunity.Similarly, there are children or their family members who are classified as vulnerable for whom provision needs to be made.
The sooner government expectations are released and agreed with teaching bodies, the sooner we can make plans and start to address the gaps in education and social and emotional development. But schools can’t return while the contagion risk is still high.