16
EDUCAT ION IN CAMBR I DGE
If schools come across as agile, quick to adapt and quick to put systems in place to help children through this challenging period, it sends out a clear signal about their levels of organisation, as well as their commitment to the communities they serve. Asking schools what they would have done differently will help identify those that accept they don’t always get things right and are prepared to learn from the experience. It demonstrates an ability to adapt and respond well to any future challenges so that pupils’ learning goes uninterrupted, whatever the circumstances. And in the current situation, that’s something with a very high value indeed.
activities towards individual fitness levels rather than team games. Others are still organising fixtures, but in a very different way. It might involve setting up what one school has termed ‘super Saturdays’ where two schools field teams in different sports on a single day. It helps to keep everyone safe while maintaining all the old sense of competition and excitement – and also potentially offering economies of scale and reduced carbon emissions when it comes to transport, as the away teams (socially distanced, of course) can travel together. For parents mulling over how best to work out what to ask prospective schools, the advice from education professionals is to question them about how they responded to the lockdown.
now look very different. Classrooms are more spread out, furniture is reduced to a minimum and pupils are, in many cases, moving round the school far less than they normally would. You’ll find house assemblies delivered online to avoid large gatherings during break or at lunchtime. Pupils are no longer able to mix freely and switch between their different groups of friends. Instead, they spend much of their time in a single bubble made up of students from the same year group or house. And where Covid-19 precautions met ancient traditions, there had to be a bit of give and take. For example sport, where schools have come up with a range of solutions. Some are gearing
AUTUMN/WINTER 2020
Powered by FlippingBook