Shirebrook Academy principal says teamwork is vital in getting back to the business of learning

Pupils returning to school are wearing face masks. Photo Getty Imges/Daniel Leal-Olivas.

It's very often the little things, like when your head of music tells you he’s bought 600 pairs of chopsticks so that students can still do drumming lessons, that remind you just how far from normal life the coronavirus has taken us (and, indeed, how ingenious and adaptable people can be).

We will certainly need that ingenuity and adaptability over the next few months, as we seek to get back to business in amongst all the upheaval and disruption of the current pandemic.

It will take some getting used to, but I hope that over time everyone will abide by the restrictions not because they are blindly following a rule, but because they understand why they need to. In other words, they will do the right thing because it is the right thing to do – and not because they’ll get into trouble otherwise.

This is key to everything, not least the requirement for everyone to wear a face covering in communal areas in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus through droplets in their breath, just as they are having to do in shops.

I am expecting high levels of compliance but, because there are plenty of reasons why some people find wearing a face covering medically, psychologically or emotionally unsuitable, and having to force students to wear them will just create stress and conflict, we’re not planning sanctions for those who don’t or can’t comply.

Instead, our approach will be to ask, encourage and to explain, in order to create the right atmosphere in which we can reconnect the school community and rejuvenate our shared culture.

It won’t be easy, and everyone will need to show understanding and empathy to others along the way, but we need the school to work together over the next few months so that we can get back to the business of learning, rather than waste our energies on reinforcing social distancing measures all day long.

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