Tom Newby Primary school came up with an innovative approach to ensuring that their Grade Seven learners kept to social distancing by using hula hoops on June 8.
Principal of the school Giselle Mynhardt said the school provided each learner with a hula hoop which was used to keep learners at a social distance.
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“This will be done until learners get used to keeping social distancing and it is working quite well”.
All learners would be screened upon entering the school premises and the school adopted a drop-and-go system where parents would be able to drop their children off at the gate as parents are not allowed to walk the learners in.
The learners will remain in what the school calls a base classroom and the different teachers would be moving from class to class.
“The exception is only for the art teacher who will fetch the learners from their base classroom and return them once she is done,” Mynhardt said.
The school has been split up into two groups to ensure that each Grade Seven class has at most 14 learners in a class.
“Group A and B will alternate weeks in school and while group A is at school group B will receive homework that they will do at home for that week to consolidate what they have learnt during the previous week,” she said
Extra staff have been brought back to ensure that learners keep to the social distancing during break, and for toilet breaks each classroom is provided with a toilet tag which ensures that only four learners will be allowed to use the restroom at a time.
Tuck shops will be opened from next week and learners will place their orders and their meals will be delivered to them.
Out of the 60 learners who were expected to get back to school, only six did not attend.
Two of the learners will be doing their work from home due to underlining illnesses while the four who did not give a reason would be contacted.
After school, learners will be escorted to the gate by their teachers and the parent will pick them up.
Should a parent not pick their child up after 2pm they will be escorted to the hall and once the parent arrives they will have to ask the security to call their child from the hall and provide identity details and their relations with the child.
“Obviously, the learners are a bit nervous about getting back but hopefully they will adjust well to their new normal,”said Mynhardt.
