Fears persist as Cumbria's schools step into socially-distanced world

Instead of the bustling, ever-changing, curiosity filled activity that is so typical of primary school life, there have been empty classrooms, deserted playgrounds, and an unnatural quietness.

So-called “hub schools” have continued operating throughout the pandemic, their dedicated teachers continuing to care for and educate the most vulnerable pupils, and for those whose parents are key workers.

But most schools have been closed.

Few people could have imagined the ways in which life would change as a result of the invisible – and frequently deadly – virus that continues to disrupt the life we all knew.

Nowhere is that more obvious than in our schools.

On Monday, more than 70 days after the Government ordered the closure of schools across the country, scores of schools across Cumbria are to take their first tentative steps back towards a kind of normality.

But not all.

Cumbria County Council’s official figures suggest that from Monday, almost 70 per cent of a 300 strong sample of schools in the county are likely to take back eligible pupils.

Some 67 per cent of those schools are now planning to take back Reception, Year 1, and Year 6 pupils, adding to the 17 hub schools already open. But will parents feel it is safe to send back their children?

At Stanwix Primary School in north Carlisle, the headteacher said the picture next Monday will be mixed. Already a hub school, it was among the Cumbrian primaries due to take back the eligible pupils.

“On Monday, we’ve got 28 Reception pupils coming in out of the 56 in that group - about half of the new group,” said headteacher Kuldip McMullan. Asked why so few reception pupils were coming back, she said: “Firstly, one of the reasons is that parents are not back at work yet.

“When they are back at work, they’ll think about sending them in. Secondly, if they’ve got a sibling in another year group, and they’re already looking after one, and they’re at home, they’ve decided to stay at home with the little one as well.”

Parents have also been happy with the home learning the school has set for its absent pupils. “Our parents and my staff have done a fantastic job,” she said. “Obviously, we can’t beat teacher input.

“But with what’s in the press, and with there still being deaths going on, people are being a bit cautious. There might be some people who are shielding because of illness.”

Carlisle city councillor Louise Atkinson, a 39-year-old mum-of-two, has been a primary school teacher for the last seven years. “Parents trust schools, and they trust school leaders to follow the guidance that’s been put in front of them, but they’re still fearful – fearful of the impact on the wider community,” said Louise.

She sits on the national executive committee of the National Educational Union (NEU), which has been critical of the Government’s handling of the schools issue during the pandemic. What did she think of the current school reopening plan?

“It’s been horrendous,” she said. “The way that it was announced was completely back to front. The announcement was made prior to any guidance coming out.

“The guidance didn’t come out until the following Tuesday – and it’s been changed 41 times since then.” Louise was particularly critical of the Government’s strategy of handing decisions on reopening to individual schools.

“That’s not right,” she said.

“To me, this is a public health decision that should be made by public health experts.

“Head teachers and teachers will always do their very best for their community. But to put this decision on to their shoulders is horrendous. It’s understandable that some parents want their children back to school; there’s an impact from lockdown on mental health.

“Head teachers are under pressure. But they also need to look after their staff; to look after the safety of the pupils; and to think about the wider community.” The NEU insisted the Government had failed to meet its own “tests” that it said were needed to justify the reopening of schools.

The community infection rate is not yet low enough and the test, track and trace system is not sufficiently well established, said Louise. Though children are affected less seriously by the virus, the evidence on how they spread it is unclear.

Louise said she is as desperate as everybody else for a return to school normality. “You can’t beat being in a classroom; education and teaching is all about relationships – and it’s difficult to have that at a distance, virtually.

“I’m missing being in school – all of it, being around the children, and able to help them with their work. We need all children back in school – and particularly the vulnerable children.

“I’ve spoken to some head teachers in the last couple of days, and though things are very different, people are very happy to be back; to have children back; and to have that sound of children around the school. It’s what I live for.

“It’s more than joy.”

But life in a “socially distanced” school will be very different - possibly even disturbing for some children, denied the freedom and close contact with friends that was once simply a part of life. There is also now a new dimension to life outside the home: fear.

“This is a virus that’s killing people,” added Louise.

Graham Frost is head teacher at Carlisle’s Robert Ferguson School and also Cumbria branch secretary for the National Association of Head Teachers. His verdict on the Government’s schools strategy is brutal.

“The Government is being cavalier,” he said. “The June 1 date was arbitrary. It seems to me that we have a government more concerned about the economy than health.”

Reception and Year 1 pupils are the children least able to socially distance, he said, adding: “We’re open for the vulnerable and children of key workers, but we’re not opening for Reception or Year 1.

“I don’t yet consider it safe yet. The infection rate isn’t yet low enough.”

In older schools such as his, which was built in 1880, social distancing can also be a challenge, with the building presenting many ‘pinch points.’ Mr Frost added: “Parents wouldn’t want the school to open if the people who lead and organise the running of the school deemed it to be unsafe.”

Whitehaven mum Nicola Banks, 41, who suffers from asthma, was so concerned about the threat posed by coronavirus that she took her son out of school even before the Goverment ordered the closures on March 18.

“I’m not letting him go back yet,” she said.

Her seven-year-old is a pupil at Valley Primary School in Whinlatter Road, Whitehaven but Nicola - a single mum - fears a second wave of infections.

She has resolved that her son will go back to school only when she feels confident it will be safe. She said: “There’s going to be another spike in infections at some point.

“It would be absolutely pointless because his school isn’t ready yet for the kids to go back. I’ve seen the pictures [on TV] of kids going back to school in France, with them standing on red crosses, a metre apart in the playground.

“That will do a lot of damage to their mental health. It would be fair sending the children back if it was top juniors but with the little ones it’s just not going to work.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous. For this Government, it’s all about the economy and it has nothing to do with safety.”

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson insisted reopening schools in a “phased way” was the “responsible thing to do”.

Asked whether getting parents back to work was ‘the main driver’ behind the decision, he said the Government was doing what was best for children’s education and well-being.

He said: “When you have medical and scientific advice that is saying it’s the right time to start bringing schools back in a phased and controlled manner, it seems only the right thing to do and the only responsible thing to do.”