Students returning to Shirebrook Academy find new safety measures strange

Ninety-six days after they last set foot in the building, around 40 students returned to Shirebrook Academy to encounter a very different school to the one they left back in March.

After lining up, while observing social distancing, they went straight to their classroom, where they would spend the rest of the day with no changeovers between lessons – and the same members of staff at all times.

They sat at separate desks, did not wear school uniform, were issued with books and laptops – which they had to wipe with anti-bacterial spray at the end of the day - and all left at different times to minimise the chance of contact.

The school had kept its doors open for vulnerable children and those of key workers, but has now brought its year 10 students in for two days’ face to face learning each fortnight until the end of term.

Among the students returning was Lauren Millband, 15, who said that after juggling her educational studies with lockdown activities such as baking and spending more time with her family, coming back into school felt highly unusual.

She said: “Everything’s weird. We’re not in our normal classroom and we’re not with the normal people. There wasn’t the usual flood of students coming into school.

“Studying at home during the lockdown could be stressful, although it was good sometimes to be able to work without distractions. I liked being able to email my teacher, you could ask them for help and they answered promptly. I did miss my friends and it wasn’t always easy to stay motivated to learn.”

Academy principal Mark Cottingham said: “It has taken an enormous amount of work for us to get the school ready and put all the social distancing and measures into place and we’ve been quite anxious about how well everything would work.

“It’s a relief to get the students back and we’ll see how well they’ll adjust to everything.