Shirebrook secondary students will return to a 'very different' school after lockdown

Shirebrook Academy, on Common Lane, has spent weeks drawing up the plans to prevent coronavirus being transmitted between students, a limited number of whom are now being invited back into school.

The school has stayed open throughout lockdown for the children of key workers and vulnerable families, but will now expand its daily provision to serve a further 40 Year 10 students who are currently in the middle of their two-year GCSE courses.

Students will be allocated their own desks and will stay in the same classroom, with the same teachers, all day.

Mark Cottingham, principal of Shirebrook Academy, said: “The advice for how we prepare the school to accommodate more students has changed constantly but we are confident that we have done everything we can to ensure that they can resume their studies as best as they can within the guidelines.

“We have all had to change our way of lives drastically to ensure we prevent the spread of coronavirus and the school our students return to will be very different to the one they left when the lockdown was imposed back in March.

Tape has been used to mark out a two-metre queuing distance, a one-way-system has been introduced and lunchtimes will be staggered, with students sitting at oblong tables rather than the round tables the school has previously used.

Students will not be required to wear their school uniform to ensure clothes can be washed when they get home, while there is ample signage reminding them about the need to wash their hands.

The principal continued: “It’s far from ideal and we have yet to find out how much their studies have been impacted by having to stay at home for the last 10 weeks, but although there is a lot to get used to, we are very much looking forward to getting back to teaching students again.”

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