Covid-19 Advice for School Leaders: Pt8: Re-Opening - Practicalities and Wellbeing Issues

I must say that Hong Kong has been pretty amazing at managing Covid-19.

7.5 million people living in one of the most densely populated cities in the world on the doorstep of China – 1365 cases – 7 deaths (at 10/07/2020). What is more Hong Kong has contained the virus without a total lockdown.

It's been as if the response to virus is encoded in everyone's DNA - everyone switched within days of the announcement of Covid-19 to 'anti-virus mode'. Since then it's been socially unacceptable not to wear a mask indoors or on public transport and we've had social distancing, but restaurants and shops have remained open the whole time. So, given these credentials in comparison to more gung-ho approaches around the world, I think that it would be wise to take seriously how the Hong Kong Government is approaching reopening schools.

Overview of the Return

Video Journalist Justin Weily made a video of our return to school:

Practicalities of Return

Medical Context: Hong Kong had fewer than 10 new cases in the past fortnight - all of them imported, and all caught at the border and in quarantine before it allowed students to return to school

Phased Return: The Education Bureau (EDB) allowed the School to return on the following schedule:

• 20 May: Y5 and Y6 at Prep (mornings only); and Y7, Y8, Y9 and Y10 at Senior (full days);
• 25th May: Y3 and Y4 at Prep (mornings only); and Y11 and Y12 at Senior (full days);
• 1st June - Y1 and Y2 at Prep (mornings only);
• Reception were always unlikely to resume this year – Health Department consider them a high risk group because of their inability to distance socially.

In practice, the phased return was a really good idea - we learned so much as we went along, allowing us to adapt the practice, particularly in the Prep Schools, as we adapted to younger groups of children returning to school.

We operated for the last four weeks of the year with social distancing in lessons and at meal times. Our Health Department considered meals a high risk time when students can mix, move around and have to remove their masks to eat – for this reason the EDB preferred schools to do mornings only, but allowed schools which could demonstrate the ability to distance students at mealtimes to have full days - very few managed this in practice.

We put the following measures in place at Kellett:

• Temperature Checks on entry to the school. We installed a thermal imaging camera at the entrance which meant that we could check students on arrival without creating queues which threatened social distancing. (Technical Specification: HIKVISION Thermal Network Bullet Camera DS-2TD2136T Series Running iVMS-4200 Software. Cost: HK$39,800 per unit (= ￡4,000) - not including laptop)

• Travel and Health declarations prior to return, including that you have not been in contact with someone in quarantine. (We're going to use Google Forms in advance of student return).
• Masks to be worn at all times in public areas, lessons and on buses – can remove if in on own in classroom or office. 
• Social Distancing on School Buses - Temperature checks before getting on the bus and masks compulsory - this is a very difficult area to police.
• Social Distancing in Classes – at least one metre. We had to change the furniture using our stock of examinations desks in classrooms where this was not possible because of the constraints of the size of the room. Where the current configuration means that this is not possible, we installed Perspex screen dividers between students.
• Measures to avoid contamination include having a receptacle for equipment that has been used and needs sanitizing.

and providing a personalised stationery kit

• Social Distancing in Meetings - e.g. using the Lecture Theatre spaced out, rather than gathering in common room areas.
• Social Distancing at meal times (Senior only) – our Health Department consider this high risk time and students mix, are moving around and have to remove their masks to eat – We have reorganised our dining room so that we have tables of 3 at a distance of 2m apart - each diner separated by a perspex screen. We are having two sittings.

• Maintain regular, thorough hand-washing and sanitizing
• Contact sports and Swimming are not permitted. - Some activities (Badminton etc) should be possible. Students have to come to school changed for sports to minimise possible contact time.
• Who to exclude from the School Site: There will be decisions about when to exclude from the school campus those who have come within a number of degrees of separation of the virus. Here we will be using the principles outlined in Pt4 - Protocol for being allowed onto the school site.

Wellbeing Issues on Return to School

We had to deal with a range of wellbeing issues associated with the the return to school.

1. Return to the 'Old Normal' - Staff and students took time to readjust to working at School. We are all familiar that it takes a few days at the start of every term to get back into the routine of getting up earlier, dressing for work, doing the daily commute and reporting for duty. Whilst some couldn't wait to be back in school, there were a significant proportion of colleagues and students for whom working from home was a preferable working lifestyle. We recognized that it was going to take time to get back to anywhere near the 'old normal' (I suspect schools will never be quite the same again in light of the closures)
2. Parental Concerns about Reopening. There is a proportion of parents who believe that Covid-19 still poses a health risk and are unhappy about school re-opening. Conversely, there are parents who believe that the Government is being overly cautious. Schools will need to strike a balance and manage both groups sensitively.
3. Parental Concerns about Academic Progress. Once parents had got over the initial relief and euphoria of having their children back to school, that they began to express their concerns about their child's progress. Many parents are now much more invested in their child's education having stepped into the teacher role of the past months.
4. Sense of Loss. There was also a time almost like mourning that key school 'rites of passage' events (such as Graduations, Proms, Leavers' Balls etc) had been cancelled. The same applies to Farewell events for staff leavers, particularly those who have had long and distinguished careers in the school. (Mr Miller's retirement after 37 years at the school was not the previously planned extravaganza)
5. Summer Travel. One of the other anxieties is that we had a very difficult summer in prospect. Whilst it was technically possible to travel back to the UK or to go on holiday to a limited number of countries that might have opened their doors, ongoing Covid-19 regulations mean that the price of a couple of weeks of freedom is likely to be a 14-day imposed quarantine on return to Hong Kong. Some staff and students will need to travel to take the opportunity to see ageing relatives or to attend a family wedding, but increasing numbers were simply resigned to being confined to camp through the summer - which is not a great prospect if you live in the sub-topics or the middle east. This is going to take strain on families and staff.
6. Ongoing Fallout from Covid-19 Closures. The impact of Covid-19 is going to be with us for months.

• There are families which have lost loved ones and they will need support.
• There will also be parents who have lost their jobs or their livelihood who will need more practical financial support at this testing time.
• Some families will be trapped on different countries where lockdown is still in effect and unable to reunite.

The key over the coming months is for schools to do everything they can (within the permitted bounds of social distancing) to bring their communities together and to help them reunite and to heal.

See Matt Seddon's article '6 ways to support wellbeing as schools return' published in Tes (16th June 2020).

EDB Advice

We have had to put special arrangements in place for the teaching of Science, DT, ICT and Art.

• EDB Advice on Design Technology
• EDB Advice on Computer Science / ICT
• EDB Advice on Science

Appendix: The Return

Wednesday 20th May - Re-opening - The Marathon was over

Kellett Prep classrooms have been rearranged with a Victorian-style classroom layout with children in row to provide 1m Social Distancing - we used Exam Desks to do this.

In Kellett Senior we provided Perspex dividers to separate double desks.

Covid-19 Advice for School Leaders Series

1. Pt1: Advice for School Business Managers:
2. Pt2 - What to Expect
3. Pt3 - Communications Strategy
4. Pt4 - Protocol for being allowed onto the school site.
5. Pt5 - Well-being Issues
6. Pt6 - Paperwork for Home-Learning
7. Pt7 - Pace Yourselves
8. Pt8 - Re-Opening