Most countries have had some form of school closure, a period of distance learning and are now looking at ways to reopen schools safely in September.

For schools themselves, this means finding a balance between ensuring education can continue to benefit pupils while keeping everyone safe - pupils, teachers and parents.

To ensure this is the case, reopenings needs to be carefully considered.

Of course, every school will have its unique circumstances, but here are 10 key practical steps to consider to help take stock and make sense of the months ahead, to help minimise risks and reassure your community.

1. Understand your situation

Make sure you fully understand the laws that are governing your reopening. Seek advice from your governing authority if required.

Also, find out about the mentality of your community - do they think school closures are ridiculous and unnecessary or are they fearful of returning to school?

Every school will have a bit of both but parent and teacher surveys are essential to understand what the majority are feeling to help direct your planning.

2. Do your risk assessments

You need to do a school tour to identify as many risks as possible, run through a generic school day and find potential solutions.

All departments need to be included, from teachers and admin staff to facilities management. Buses, maintenance, cafeterias, nurses, and entry and exit points all need to be considered, not just lessons.

3. Entering school plans

Limit entries to ensure you can monitor each individual coming in. Only students and staff should be on-site, with video calls used for parent meetings.

Have thermal imaging temperature checks and a clear policy on who will be denied entry - above 37.5°C, for example.

You can provide disinfection booths for people to walk through, and insist on face coverings and gloves if required. Will maintenance teams only be allowed on site after student hours? How will you accept deliveries? The smallest detail needs to be scrutinised.

4. Think creatively

We all know classrooms need to be reconfigured to keep pupils apart but think outside the box (or outside the classroom), too. Walk the school, use architectural plans, look at all available spaces to see if they could become teaching spaces.

Perhaps the theatre, sports hall, exam hall or cafeteria could be a classroom, even an art storeroom could be large enough for some classes if cleared out. Could you hire marquees and create extra classrooms in outdoor spaces?

5. Limit movement and crowded spaces

Usually, secondary students rotate around departments, but this can be reversed so students have a base and teachers come to them, reducing cross-contamination.

There should be no sharing of materials like pens and rulers - students must bring what they need.

Timetable different break times and lunchtimes to reduce the number of students milling around, too.

Insist on packed lunches or arrange for the cafeteria to deliver food to these areas rather than everyone queueing for their food.

Assemblies can be shared by video and students can come to school in PE kit. School buses need physical distancing, too; this will mean more transport is needed, so who will bear the costs?

6. Increase cleaning

Contact your facilities management and ensure they can meet your requirements. Identify hotspots and times.

Classrooms will need sanitiser - do you ask students to use it on entry and exit of every room? Is it feasible for cleaners to go into every classroom after each use?

If not, are there key areas - toilets, door handles, etc - that need to be prioritised.

7. Communication

There is a lot of information (and misinformation) at the moment, so providing clear and regular updates is important. Will you be opening fully? Partially? Or continuing e-learning?

What measures are in place to ensure safety? Tell people! They need to feel that they will be safe and that you are looking after them. Students also need to be taught why is all this happening and what the specific steps are that everyone needs to follow. For me, this is about respect for others - I may not like having to wear a mask or sanitising my hands, but if it protects someone else, I need to respect them and do it.

This must form a key part of our teaching from September onwards.

8. Differentiated learning

Even with all this in place, there are likely to be some students who will not come to school - maybe they are high-risk for medical reasons, or maybe they’re just still worried. Therefore, you still need to provide distance learning.

All students should have access to lessons, resources and materials so they can continue learning and not miss out, whatever their reason for staying home. Work out now how you will do this, from teacher workload to assessment methods.

9. Collaborate and network

International schools may often see each other as competition, but this is a time to work together and help each other out.

Set up a network via WhatsApp or Facebook, where leaders can ask questions, share ideas, etc. This is definitely a case of “many hands make light work”.

10. Plan for the worst

It may sound defeatist, but you need to have an action plan in case someone in school tests positive for Covid-19. You don’t want to be trying to figure it out at that point.

Have a clear plan about who you should inform if this happens, and who is responsible for what - from informing parents to healthcare officials. It’s important, therefore, that you know exactly who has been on-site and when.

There will be more considerations for your school, some of these may not apply but the important thing is to think ahead and mitigate any issues.

The safety of students and staff is always a school’s number one priority.

Ian Thurston is Head of Secondary at Dar al Marefa School, Dubai, an IB continuum school for children aged 3-18.