Headteacher’s video shows realities of socially distant classroom
Desks pushed up against walls, a teacher ‘exclusion zone’ and the cleaning of playground equipment between uses are just some of the changes schools can expect when children return, a headteacher has revealed.
Sara Pecheur, headteacher at Wheelers Lane Primary School in Kings Heath, has taken a video showing what life could look like for the city’s schoolchildren in the coming weeks and months.
It shows desks stationed two metres apart, reducing the average class size from around 30 to just 11 pupils, while a ‘teacher zone’ marks out an exclusion area for teachers to remain socially distant from their pupils.
Reduced class sizes also means that many school desks can no longer be used, with the video showing a surplus of classroom equipment cluttering hallways. Some children could also be forced to sit facing the wall, in order to maintain two-metre social distancing guidelines.
Sara says that it’s been a struggle to adapt to the rules so far, with the video showing the first classroom the school has attempted to alter to meet guidelines.
And she added that she believes the youngest pupils will find it particularly difficult to adhere to social distancing rules.
“It’s hard for adults, so it’s going to be difficult for children. And the younger they are, the harder it is for them to understand,” she says.
“I think the younger children probably won’t be able to keep to social distancing, and it’s going to be very difficult for the older children too.
