Daisy Dewsnap: Going back to school

Fifteen-year-old Daisy lives in Mossley and attends Saddleworth School. Being a Year 10 student, Daisy shares her experiences of being able to return to school for the first time since lockdown albeit for one day a week, and the strict and strange regimes that have become the new normal for students...

As I’m in Year 10, I was able to return to school a couple of weeks ago after working from home for the past 14 weeks. 

This was something I’d looked forward to and had been anticipating for such a long time. 

However it feels so strange and not at all like it usually would! I wasn’t sure which day I’d be in school or which pupils would be in my class. 

There have been lots of changes put in place for health and safety reasons, for example we’re only allowed in certain parts of the school and there are lots of hand sanitizer stations dotted around.

The first change is the layout of the school day. I’m only in school one day each week and my learning starts at 9.35am and ends at 3.10pm. 

We meet at a specific assembly point in the morning, and then get escorted to our lessons by our allocated member of staff.  We have five different lessons: English, Maths, Science, SPACE (which is a form of PSHE) and then a free period where we can either complete some work we’ve been set online or do careers research/activities.

The class sizes have also reduced drastically! The maximum number  of people I come across throughout the whole school day is 11 and there are only five other students in my class. 

Each lesson takes place in the same room with the same teacher and the same class of students. 

We are encouraged to take the bare minimum in our school bag and avoid bringing unnecessary items. 

All of the work we do in school is provided in booklets which remain at school when we leave.

There have also been changes to our uniform. We’re not able to wear blazers or ties as they are made of a synthetic material, meaning that the virus activity time will be increased.

It all feels so bizarre and I have to keep reminding myself that this is real life. This is our reality for the foreseeable future! 

Although, despite the changes, I’m so glad to be back (even if it is only once per week) and I’m so grateful for all of the hard work and effort being put in place by teachers/staff in order to ensure a safe return.

There are only a few weeks until the summer holidays and no one knows what September will hold. 

I think we should all just stay positive and optimistic regarding what the situation will be in a couple of months.