Behind the scenes at one Corby primary school - what life is like for pupils and staff in the 'new normal'

Beanfield Primary School has been open throughout lockdown for key worker and vulnerable children
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Teachers at a Corby school have described the joy of seeing their pupils return to their classrooms and that the experience has brought them closer as a team.

Throughout lockdown, Beanfield Primary School has remained open for key worker and vulnerable children with all other students staying at home until June 1 when schools were asked to start a phased return by the government.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 were invited back into school to work in 'bubbles' - a small group of up to eight pupils with one teacher in one classroom.

Mrs Sam Eathorne, headteacher said: "We have had to rethink everything.

"The teacher is in the classroom bubble and the teaching assistant is outside to support, acting as a runner, helping the children with toileting and providing first aid.

"We have two drop-off times and two pick-up times. We have had to rota the outdoor space.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"They are no longer allowed to use the dining hall so they eat their lunches in their classrooms in their bubbles.

Culen Dixon, 10,Culen Dixon, 10,
Culen Dixon, 10,

"We have found that the children are so resilient they have adapted so quickly and parents have fallen into a routine."

Hand-sanitising stations have been placed in every room in the building, markings two metres apart on the floor show pupils safe distances and one-way systems have been introduced throughout the school.

A socially-distanced queuing system has been introduced for the start and end of the school day with lines painted on the ground to remind parents, carers and pupils.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The school introduced one year group at a time starting with Reception, then Year 1 followed by the oldest pupils in their final year.

Dawn Longhurst, Year 1 teacherDawn Longhurst, Year 1 teacher
Dawn Longhurst, Year 1 teacher

Culen Dixon returned to his Year 6 classroom last week. The 10-year-old said: "Being at school is better than staying at home, I'm with my friends.

"I was surprised how well I got on with my sister. I did all my work when I was at home but it was different. I played a lot of PS4, and sometimes it was boring.

"It's good to be back and be with my friends again."

Pupils have been organised into self-contained bubbles with a maximum of eight children in each.

Mrs Sam Eathorne, head teacher Beanfield Primary SchoolMrs Sam Eathorne, head teacher Beanfield Primary School
Mrs Sam Eathorne, head teacher Beanfield Primary School
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Of the 270 children who could have taken up their places back in the school, fewer than half have returned to school, the remainder being kept at home.

The 111 Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils, as well as the key worker and vulnerable children, who have retaken their places, have been allocated classrooms and teachers who might not be their usual ones.

Year 3 teacher, Emmeline Wallington, one of the 122 members of staff, has been teaching in different key worker year groups and is preparing to be deployed in the Beanfield Primary School Nursery Unit that opens next week.

She said: "You forget how much the children are part of your life and they are part of yours. There's an awful lot of waving and smiling - even the shy ones are giving us lovely smiles.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"They are living through an historic time, like the evacuees. Their grandchildren will ask them what it was like to live through the pandemic, it's such a significant time."

Nursery manager, Helen Cross said: "The children are remarkably resilient. They understand the routine once you've told them and they remember.

Sarah Hickin with the Year 6 Bubble 3 classSarah Hickin with the Year 6 Bubble 3 class
Sarah Hickin with the Year 6 Bubble 3 class

"Working with them in smaller groups has been a positive thing. You get to know the children better and that's a big positive, you bond with them more.

"The staff have got to know each other much better and that has got to make us a stronger school community."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As the school closed Beanfield Primary School continued to offer free school meals with members of the school's education welfare team providing and sometimes dropping off lunches to pupils in the community.

Callum Reilly, education welfare assistant, has been tracking the well-being of pupils.

Every family attending the school has a welfare call at least once every two weeks from a member of staff and videos on social media have helped pupils and staff stay in touch.

He said: "We do anything we can to offer families support. Some will ask for help but others we have asked. Some families' situations have changed during lockdown and we can help.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We have had generous donations from Morrisons who asked if we needed anything. It's been a real community effort."

Children who have been struggling to get online have been able to access learning with hand-delivered resource packs and stationery.

Mr Reilly added: "We're a real school family with an ethos of love and it has really made us appreciate what we have here."

Leyton Smith, Primary Executive Principal of the Brooke Weston Trust, said: "We never thought that 15 pupils was the safest way to return.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We got in an external accredited health and safety expert to assess all our classrooms. At two metres apart we could not accommodate more than eight pupils in a classroom.

"We took ownership and made a thorough risk evaluation.

"We worked together with the staff from the very start to find the safest way to return and to reassure staff and parents that what we had in place would work.

"We put together some really detailed information for parents. We worked out that you would need a lot of classrooms to get everyone back.

"The level of governance that the trust has put in has been immense and that's been a real strength.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Our routines and relationships build their understanding of what the new 'normal' looks like.

"It is down to parental choice if they send their children back. We won't force anyone to come back.

"We have staff and children who are shielding so they need to stay away."

The school will reopen its nursery section next week to pupils.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mrs Eathorne said:"What we learnt from the first few weeks was that parents wanted to have some practical learning tasks.

"Those who couldn't access teaching online could do things like make a bug hotel or go on a leaf hunt.

"Parents have been really holding things together but the children have been so happy to be back and to be with each other. They have really embraced coming back and we have made it fun for them.

"We will not turn any children away and more parents are feeling confident to send their children back

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"The support I have been given [from the trust] has been superb. As headteachers we are not going through this alone."

She added: "When you see the children's happy faces it is all worthwhile."

A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper when you do your weekly shop.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Related topics: