In April schools in Denmark were some of the first around the world to reopen under new social distancing set-ups. At the time, we detailed much about how they had done this and how it was going.

Now, after returning to the new set-up, Shirley Jacobsen, head at Rygaards International School in Copenhagen, explains what the second reopening experience was like, what’s changed and how the pupils are getting used to the new guidelines in, what is for them, their second term of such operations.

Coronavirus: Reopening school again

We were among the very first to reopen our school back in mid-April, when we pioneered the reopening, starting with our primary school.

A few weeks later, we could welcome back our secondary students, and by 19 May, we were back to having all of our pupils in school. A few weeks later, we wished everyone a great summer, knowing that we would return in August.

As we returned yet again in corona times, we knew that we would need to continue with many of the same routines that had been put in place before the holiday.

Thankfully, the children slipped straight back into those routines, making the new school start easy and effective.

Some of the regulations have been relaxed slightly allowing us to return to a more normal school day as we realise that the guidelines we have presently may need to stay in place for the foreseeable future.

Arriving and leaving school

Before the summer holiday, we had created a timetable to have our pupils arriving at staggered times. When coming to school, the pupils lined up outside, one-metre apart, waiting for staff to lead them into the building.

This helped us to control the number of students going in and out, and the staff could give reminders to keep a distance. This worked, but we soon learned that the 20-minute window in the morning was too much, as the children adapted quickly.

After having built this “arrival routine”, we’ve now given all the classes a 10-minute window to arrive and to come directly into the school grounds and line up outside their classroom building, which permits lessons to start on time.  

The afternoon is more of a challenge as whole classes leave from the gate at the same time. Here, we have had to maintain a staggered departure time but again have streamlined it so that it is just the younger children who finish 10 minutes earlier.

Routines for hygiene

Sanitising hands on the way into school became a routine very quickly last term and has remained a routine both when arriving at school and before and after playtime, as well as at any time children use equipment or simply pass a sanitiser in a corridor.

Equipment is still sanitised before and after use. Anything that can’t be washed is still not being used, except for books.

Cleaning of tables, and joint areas such as door handles and bathrooms, still takes place twice a day.

Classroom layout and in-person teaching

When it comes to teaching and time in the classroom, we still have to make sure the pupils are one metre apart.

However, before summer, pupils were only allowed to interact with their specific class group.

For some special classes like special needs or Danish, pupils are now allowed to work in year groups; in other words, pupils from two parallel classes can work together if necessary. Within a class, it is now possible to engage in group work, too.

One-to-one teaching is also now possible.

Pupils now have more freedom to move around the school when necessary, such as visiting the library or the music room a class at a time.

Classrooms are now allowed to be used by other classes as long as tables are disinfected before and after, allowing us to get one step closer to utilising all of our school resources.

As a result of these changes, we don’t lose much teaching time, and the learning environment is closer to normal,

Playtime

Playtime is one area which has not changed since resuming school in April. Children still play only with their class in a designated area.

Classes also still follow a different timetable with different times for breaks and lunch in order to allow for everyone to play outside.  

Books and homework

During the lockdown, we did most work through various distance-learning platforms.

Today, when our primary pupils are back in the classroom, we are again taking a step closer to a more normal learning environment where the children are using exercise books and textbooks. They also have the opportunity once again to take reading and library books home.

These books are put “in quarantine” when they are brought back to school, before being given to a different child.

However, for our secondary students, we now see these platforms being more integrated into the learning environment, connecting students and staff in new and innovative ways.

Parents

Currently, parents are still not allowed within our school grounds in order to keep the risk to a minimum.

However, as we are now in a new school year, it has been important to introduce the new teachers to the parents and vice versa, and for the teachers to explain the classroom routines for that class.

Class meetings have, therefore, been held after school, with one parent per child being allowed to sit at the place where their child normally sits.

Parents are also allowed to come in individually to have a meeting with a teacher or for parent consultations.

Looking forward

We still have a two-metre restriction in place for singing, which affects music lessons and assemblies as well as class time where songs are used as a learning tool.

We also still have very restricted access to trips out of school, as public transport, and crowded places, especially indoors, are still being avoided.

For many classes, a visit to the local park is the only option. However, the fact that we are now able to cover most of the curriculum in an almost normal fashion helps to create an atmosphere of happy children and teachers who feel that they can almost teach in a way that they would like to.

Each new step is definitely an improvement to the one that has gone before.

Shirley Jacobsen is the head of international primary school at Rygaards International School in Copenhagen, Denmark