Back to school: South Yorkshire Primary School said reopening their doors "worked like a dream"

St John’s Primary, in Penistone, welcomed students in as part of new government lockdown easing plans to return to the ‘new normal’.

Executive Headteacher Antoinette Drinkhill said she was met with ‘happy faces’ from staff and pupils as they officially reopened to selective students for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown.

While many schools remained open throughout the Covid-19 pandemic for children of essential workers – yesterday students in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 were encouraged to return too.

St John’s was instructed to reopen their doors by the council after they maintained the government’s five coronavirus tests had been met and it was safe for pupils to go back from the start of June.

Councillor Margaret Bruff, Cabinet Spokesperson for Children's Services, said: "We believe that it's important for children to go back to their school or early years setting, to avoid lost learning and the significant impact that this may have on their future outcomes.

"Our priority is to make sure that children and staff are always as safe as possible, and our public health team and school's service will support schools and early years settings.”

Around 140 students have returned to St John’s Primary since they reopened on Monday.

Mrs Drinkhill explained what it was like for students and staff to return this week.

"It worked like a dream and parents felt confident as they were coming in”, she added.

“There were so many happy faces yesterday, from staff as well as children.

"They were beaming, it was lovely to hear the sound of children's voices and teachers talking to them.

"Children missed being with their friends and missed being with their teachers so much - to be able to come back, I think that was a really big step forward for many of them.”

The school has introduced a new one-way system, alongside staggered arrival and finishing times to ensure pupils maintain a safe distance.

Classrooms have been re-arranged, with one student to each table and class sizes have been reduced to just 15, meaning there are now several smaller teaching groups referred to as a “pod”.

Each pod has its own teacher, teaching assistant and resources that are washed but can only be used by that specific group of children in order to maintain good hygiene and slow limit the chance of catching the virus.

Mrs Drinkhill shared some of the anxieties that parents and children had about returning to school while the country is still in lockdown.

"Some were very excited and some were a bit nervous but once they came in, they could see we had set out the school and classrooms in such a way that we are encouraging social distancing”, she added.

"It doesn't feel like a prison, there are no crosses on the floor that they've got to sit on.

"We're helping children to stay safe by monitoring their social distancing, talking, explaining and reminding them if they forget.”

The executive headteacher said that children are adapting to the ‘new normal’ a lot quicker than she expected.

"I watched one child who couldn’t open a yoghurt pot so she put it down probably a metre ahead of her on the floor and a teacher came over, picked it up and opened it, then put it down”, she said.

"That was quite natural for her to do and it didn't upset her or make her feel nervous.

"There are little small ways to remind students to socially distance and keep it up so it just becomes the new way of working and I expect today to be even easier.”

Students are also only permitted to play with the students in their pod, while keeping a safe two metre distance in their individual section of the playground.

Children have been encouraged to write letters to their friends in different classes to keep in contact while they can’t physically be in the same classroom.

Mrs Drinkhill said that students are happy to be back and learning as a class again.

"They have said they really missed lessons.

“I think children are enjoying being back in school and while it might be a little bit different to normal school, it provides them with structure and routine that they have really missed.”

In Sheffield, Public Health Director Greg Fell encouraged schools across the city not to reopen after he was concerned that it could not be done safely.

He advised that the Test and Trace system should be in place and working effectively for 14 days before schools and nurseries begin increasing their numbers.

Around 150 schools in Sheffield have remained open during the pandemic to support vulnerable children and key workers but none of the 27 that have been closed since lockdown was enforced, have reopened.