St Teresa’s Senior Primary in Rosebank welcomed their Grade 7 girls back to school on 8 June with a blended timetable.
Computer teacher and marketing manager at the school, Lianda May said the girls would attend school on Monday and Wednesday from 8am to 1pm and would continue with online learning on Tuesday and Thursday. She added that Friday would be a home day for consolidation and online learning so that the school could undergo deep cleaning and intensive sanitising once a week.
“On arrival at school, our staff and security were greeted with a surprise banner with messages of gratitude, love and support from all the Grade 7 girls. Thanks to their parents and the video prepared by the school, our girls were all comfortable with the new safety protocols and procedures to get to their classrooms,” May said. She added that in their classrooms, each girl was allocated their own ‘office space’ consisting of a 1.5m² space with their desk and chair.
To avoid having any paper or books that could get contaminated at school, the girls brought their own electronic device that they have been using at home for online learning. May said, “At break time, each girl was assigned 2m² blocks on the tennis courts to have their lunch, stretch and enjoy the fresh air. The girls were so excited to be back at school and to see their teachers and friends again. After break, they underwent the sanitising procedure and had their temperature taken again before returning to class.”
Grade 7 learner Jenna Andrews said she was excited to see all her friends and to wear civvies at school. Fellow learner Angelica Ghillino said, “It does feel a bit strange because we have to go through this whole process of sanitising but at least we get to come back to school so I’m quite happy about that.” Jessica Botha, Kitso Mathamela and Isabella van der Merwe also agreed that it was great to see their friends after so long.
For Warona Mahlaba, it wasn’t so great that they couldn’t hug their friends in greeting. “We are looking forward to welcoming our other grades back to school in the next couple of weeks,” May concluded.
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