As any teacher will know, no matter how long you have been teaching, a summer break will almost always end with a few sleepless nights, as a result of worry or excitement about the year ahead. 

But this has been no ordinary year. Some staff will feel understandably nervous about the educational landscape we now find ourselves in, while we attempt to navigate the new Covid-19 restrictions and create a sense of normality for our students. 

In Oldham, staff have the added worry of going to school in the area that has the highest infection rate in England. This is the situation I now find myself in, preparing once again to stand in front of rooms full of children and greet my new Year 7 form, while local and national newspaper headlines scream about the tighter restrictions in my local area and the rising number of positive cases. 

Reopening schools in a coronavirus hotspot

It is hard not to feel anxious. As the mother of a 12-year-old boy - who attends the same school I teach at - and of a two-year-old girl, I worry about bringing the virus into my own home. Although the science seems to tell us that children don’t suffer as severe symptoms as adults, no parent wants to make their own child ill. So, for the next term at least, I know I will be constantly on edge: looking out for the first signs of a temperature or the beginning of a cough. 

Yet I also feel that getting our pupils back to school is the right thing to do. Schools moved quickly to establish online learning opportunities, but it’s not the same. Not only do pupils seem to learn more effectively in school, but they also need the routines, relationships and social interaction that school brings. 

I haven’t met a teacher or spoken to one online who isn’t keen to get back to school. But the two feelings aren’t mutually exclusive. Having worries and concerns does not mean that you don’t want to go back: it’s just a natural human fear that we need to embrace and learn to work with. 

Working tirelessly

Luckily, my school leadership team and new headteacher have put rigorous measures into place to keep staff and students as safe as possible. Throughout their summer, they worked tirelessly, with often shifting or last-minute guidance, to meet government guidelines and totally transform the school day and routines in a very large school, with a school building that has many challenges. 

Some parts of the building date back to the Victorian era, with others from the 1960s. It certainly wasn’t designed for 1,200 pupils - let alone with the added pressure of social distancing. 

To help with this, there will be a one-way system with signage, staggered ends to lessons and a huge duty presence. The school has also been split into key areas for different year groups to use in their social times, so that year-group “bubbles” aren’t mixing or compromising their safety. 

As in other schools, students and staff will be also be wearing masks in the corridor and other communal areas, and there will be regular handwashing and sanitising opportunities throughout the day.

It’s like being an NQT again

Perhaps the biggest change for my day-to-day teaching, however, will be to my usual pedagogic practices: no more circulating the room, giving immediate written feedback and going to help students who may be struggling. It is going to be a steep learning curve. In some ways, it is a bit like being an NQT again, as nothing is quite the same as it has always been. 

There is no doubt that being a teacher in Oldham has its added psychological pressures. At the back of your mind is the worry that, no matter how careful the staff or students are, positive test numbers are going up in the local area. It seems like only a matter of time before this will be brought into school. 

To add to this, in May we lost a colleague - who was healthy and athletic - to Covid. This really brought home how dangerous this virus is. 

Yet, after yesterday’s Inset day, I do feel so much calmer. Everything is so well planned and thought out, and every possible eventuality has been considered. I feel lucky to work for such great leaders. 

As teachers, we are so skilled at adapting and working under stress that we will get through this term together. And we will welcome our students back with a reassuring smile - even if, underneath, we are feeling the same anxieties ourselves.

Haili Hughes is an English teacher at Saddleworth School in Oldham, Greater Manchester. She tweets @HughesHaili