Back to school – what do parents think?

Schools in Wales reopened for the first time in three months this week.

However, no formal teaching is taking place, with schools in Caerphilly County Borough open for three weeks before the end of the summer term.

Welsh Education Minister Kirsty Williams described it as an “opportunity to check in and catch up”.

Due to social distancing measures, schools are operating with reduced class sizes, meaning many pupils will be in for just one day a week for the remainder of the term.

At Plasyfelin Primary School, in Caerphilly town, parents and staff clapped the pupils as they returned to school.

However, the reopening of schools has split opinion among parents.

Sam Buckley, who lives in Abercarn, is one of many parents sending their children back to school.

Ms Buckley’s five-year-old daughter, Ffion, returned to reception at Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Gwyddon on Monday.

Ms Buckley said: “Ffion couldn’t wait to go back and see friends.
“The teachers and staff at the school have done a great job getting everything set up.

“It’ll give the kids a bit of freedom from parents.”

Ms Buckley’s eight-year-old daughter Seren returned to school on Thursday and “couldn’t wait to go back”.

Ms Buckley said her children found the lockdown tough to begin with.

She said: “They struggled to understand why places were closed, but they took it in their stride.

“It was a struggle for me as a parent too.”

Meanwhile, Blackwood resident Sarah Wareham’s two sons also returned to school, and will attend for four hours a week.

Her 15-year-old son is currently in Year 10 at Blackwood Comprehensive and was set to sit some of his GCSE exams this year.

However, due to the pandemic, the exams have been rescheduled and he will sit them next summer.

Ms Wareham’s younger son is currently in Year 7 – the first year at Blackwood Comprehensive.

Ms Wareham said: “I’m very happy they’ve gone back and I support it fully, but why couldn’t they have gone back on June 1 like in England? It’s too little too late.

“Four hours a week is not an education. I would have liked to have seen Year 10 given more time in school.

“But I do appreciate the work that has been done to get schools back open. The kids are happy to be back.”

Meanwhile, Caerphilly County Borough Council has confirmed that the education hubs, which operated throughout the lockdown for children of key workers and pupils deemed vulnerable, will continue to run, but will instead be held at the child’s normal school.

Some schools are believed to be segregating pupils who have been attending the hubs during the lockdown. Caerphilly Council would not reveal which schools when asked by Caerphilly Observer.

In a statement, the council said: “Within each school there will be some provision for children of key workers for the school day which is different to the ‘check in, catch up and prepare for summer and September’.

“The number of contact between staff and pupils should be minimised as much as possible and where these contacts take place, there should be a range of mitigating safeguards to help reduce the risk of transmission.

“This approach will form part of the risk assessment for individual schools.”

The statement continued: “Limiting social contacts is an important part of reducing the likelihood of seeing large outbreaks of the virus.

“It is important that we continue to reduce mixing between people and groups of people.

“Keeping people in small, consistent groups of adults and children which remain the same throughout the week, and separate from other groups, helps to do this and avoids creating chains of transmission.

“In returning to school, children should attend just one setting wherever possible, and should remain in the same small, consistent group within that setting, as far as possible.

“This will help reduce the likelihood of the virus moving between groups within that one setting, or moving between groups in different settings.”