Back to school for John O'Gaunt's Year 10s

Hungerford school put in place range of measures to keep students safe

IT was safety first at Hungerford’s John O’Gaunt School as its Year 10 pupils returned for the first time in nearly three months.

Following many primary schools pupils returning at the beginning of June, this week marked the second phase of the reopening of the education sector as Years 10 and 12 were allowed to return.

John O’Gaunt has introduced a range of measures to ensure pupils’ safe return.

With secondary schools restricted to only a quarter of their Year 10 pupils in school at any one time, remote learning will remain the main focus for all year groups.

However, limited face-to-face teaching will return, as the school switches to four 50-minute sessions from 8.45am to 12.50pm, rather than a full timetable.

There will also be wellbeing sessions to check on the pupils and ensure they are OK, as well as a pastoral team on site – although it hasn’t been needed yet.

The pupils will attend school one day per week, on the same day each week according to their group.

They will be split into groups of no more than 15, with pupils spending all their sessions in the same classroom and are required to adhere to strict social distancing rules at all times.

There is no change for the children of key workers, who will be able to attend school all week and will be kept separate from the Year 10s.

Headteacher Richard Hawthorne – who only joined the school at the beginning of June – said things had gone smoothly.

He said: “We were ready – we’ve done an awful lot of extensive risk assessment and site preparation and communication with parents to try and think of every eventuality and what they’d want to know.

“We’d only open if it was safe to do so and we feel it is. We had a staff briefing day on Monday and then the Year 10s came in from Tuesday.

“For a young person it’s a very strange thing, that’s why in the first week we’ve put a lot of time into wellbeing sessions to make sure we’re on top of any anxiety they might have.

“The kids have been fantastic, they’re back in summer uniform and looking smart which creates the sense that it’s more like school.”

Alongside the strict rules within the building, the school has also requested that pupils should be brought to school by just one parent or carer.

Parents driving cars should use the visitor car park rather than the front of the school and pupils will be allowed into school one by one.

If pupils are arriving by bus, they should ensure they follow social distancing rules on the bus and at the bus stops and that they wear face coverings in accordance with the latest Government guidance on public transport.