Students and staff return to school after a ‘three-month Christmas holiday’

For the first time in two-and-a-half months, thousands of children are returning to school across Kent.
With a vaccine and a third lockdown, cases have dropped vastly allowing an easing on lockdown measures.

With this return, scientists and school leaders have showed concern over a rise in cases following mixing. Children will be in close proximity of each other and in some cases social distancing will not be able to be maintained.
Children are heading back to school when the cases are higher are currently higher than they were back in September.

Children will be tested three times within the first two weeks and then will be given two rapid tests to use.
Home testing will be a major step into improving safety for the children at school, with the school staff also following this.
Bubbles and social distancing will be necessary precautions as advised by Public Health England.

Alan Brookes, the chair of Kent Association of Headteachers has said “yes we need children back but we think more could have been done around staging of return for example.”

A quick change from learning through screens at home to face-to-face teaching may be stressful for some students. With 4 weeks until the Easter holiday, it is a perfect time to slowly ease students back into the classroom without anxiety or fear. GCSEs, AS and A-levels have been called off for students who were meant to partake in those exams this year.

To help with the return to normal, clubs and sporting activities will be allowed to start up again, hopefully influencing healthy lifestyles and acting as a stress relief.