All hands on deck for the opening of primary education on 11 May
Primary schools will reopen on Monday 11 May. Before that, schools must have arranged countless things. On which days are we going to give lessons? How do we ensure one-way traffic in the corridors? Is there enough disinfectant and where do we get plexiglass from? For many teaching staff it is the busiest May holiday ever.
Image: Pixabay
The most important decision that primary schools have to make before the doors can open on May 11 is of course: are we going to give the lessons in full or half days? Whole Days is in line with national, voluntary guidelines and provides peace of mind. With entire school days, children can experience 'normal' days, says Myrthe van Staalduinen, director of De Blinkerd primary school in AD / Haagsche Courant. 'The moment you let them come for three hours, you start pressing instruction: arithmetic, language and reading. I want those children to have the time to talk to each other, to do gymnastics, to do crafts or whatever. '
But teaching in half days has advantages: it gives rhythm and structure to the week because the children are then at school every day - although for half. At noon there is a change: one group of students goes home, the other group starts. All tables and materials are disinfected in between, says Cindy Roeling, director of primary schools De Avonturijn and Het Kompas in AD / Haagse Courant. "And I think I'll go to the toilets again with a cleaning cloth myself."
Contamination risk
A disadvantage of half-day lessons is that every day more parents are on their feet to bring and collect children. This increases the risk of contamination, although no one knows to what extent.
'Public opinion is moving in such a direction that you almost endanger public health if you opt for half days,' says director Wendy Brasz of primary school De Linde in Oldenzaal in the Twentse Courant Tubantia. Yet she insists on that. 'We want to see the children every day. With a daily school session you get a picture of how they are doing. '
Varietas, an umbrella organization of primary schools in Twente, does not yield to the pressure either, says director Louis Stiphout in The Stentor. It is better for children, whether or not vulnerable, to see their own teacher every day and to speak Dutch every day.
Schools determine their own schedules and the reception sector is then allowed to adjust their schedules
Other schools took a bend, such as De Esch primary school in Oldenzaal. "We thought: what are we getting on our neck to continue for half a day," says director Arno Lentfert in the Twentse Courant Tubantia. In consultation with the participation council, it was decided to allow children to come all day.
Grumbled
The latter is also much more convenient for out-of-school care throughout the country. Because if one group of pupils finishes school around noon, it does not link up with the after-school care, which usually only opens its doors at two or three in the afternoon. There has been a lot of grumbling from the bsos at the schools, according to an emergency survey by the branche organization childcare and the branch association social childcare. It makes sense that schools determine their own schedules and that the childcare sector can then try to fit in: 'one-way traffic', was the prevailing opinion.
Once schools have made the choice between full or half-day classes, many practical matters still need to be arranged. Teachers and support staff mark out walking routes within the school, move desks further away from the students and measure a distance of XNUMX meters between the lunch areas in the staff room. For parents of preschoolers, circles are sometimes made in the playground, where they can wait for their children to be picked up by the teacher.
Disinfectants
Schools also pay a lot of attention to hygiene. Heidi Rubingh, interim director of Arlanta in Friesland, has many questions. 'The protocol for the opening of the schools states that thorough cleaning must be done,' she says in the newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. But what's thorough? Who decides that? ' Her cleaning company is now trying to buy enough certified disinfectants across the country, but that is difficult. 'What good is it if there is enough cleaning agent next Monday, but no more on Wednesday. Do I have to close the schools again? '
If the math or language book is not finished, it does not mean that the children have fallen behind enormously
During the May holidays, the caretakers of Arlanta are busy making Plexiglass screens that screen off teachers' desks. "But it is quite a task to find enough plexiglass, because shops and companies also use the screens to prevent contamination," says Rubingh.
When the children are at school, the big question is of course how much delay they have fallen behind. In Arnhem, the city council has already decided to allow disadvantaged children to attend summer schools for free. Or, if that is not possible, to tutor the regular school.
Summer vacation
In Rotterdam, the Federation of Educational umbrella organizations and Public Education Rotterdam (FOKOR) does not see it as difficult, it reports AD / Rotterdams Dagblad. "If the math or language book is not out, it does not mean that the children have fallen behind enormously," the federation writes in a letter to education councilor Said Kasmi. When starting up schools, the emphasis should be on the social-emotional well-being of children. Youth should therefore participate in 'sporting and creative activities' during the summer holidays.
The GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond is already ready to test teaching staff for corona. People who are referred via the company doctor can go to the drive-through test street in a parking garage at De Kuip. The GGD also has two camper buses in use for testing, which can also stop at schools.
Shocking
For some, opening the schools cannot be done quickly enough. The 'lack of solidarity and urgency of many schools is shocking', writes Nico Rosenbaum, director of VSO Berg and Bosch College in Bilthoven, in an opinion piece. de Volkskrant. 'Own health first. Own organization first. Self-interest comes first. Imagine that healthcare workers would have reacted like that. The country would be too small. Rightly so.'
The safety of the more than two thousand children and three hundred employees feels like a burden
But according to Rubingh of the Arlanta school board, caution is advised. Because the responsibility for the safety of the more than two thousand children and three hundred employees feels 'like a heavy burden'. "Of course everyone wants the children to go to school again," says Rubingh in it Algemeen Dagblad. 'But some employees are seriously concerned about safety. Not because they are in a high-risk group themselves, but because they have sick children at home or are carers.'
What is clear: this is the busiest May holiday that Rubingh has known. 'To parents who say: 'you postpone the opening of schools because you don't want to work during the May holidays', I say: the opposite is true. We are working with all our might to get it done.'
