As we all know, living through a global pandemic means that there are a lot of changes to our lives and the systems in place. One area that has been hugely impacted, is education. Schools are having to move to online teaching for at least a part of the year.
However, to minimize the impact on children’s learning, teaching will sometimes remain in-person, particularly when cases are fairly low and we aren’t in the midst of a national lockdown. If children are in school, it is necessary to implement certain procedures to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and maximize everybody’s safety. Here’s what you can do.
Invest in Desk Dividers
One thing that could be done in order to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and ensure that schools are safer for children is to make sure all pupils are distanced when inside the classroom. This may involve moving tables around, as well as ensuring students do not stand up and walk around unnecessarily.
Desk dividers are a useful thing to invest in too, to create more distance between students and provide an extra barrier, which will help stop the spread further. These are simple additions to the classroom that don’t require a lot of effort to put in place, and they don’t change the way in which you teach, but they are very effective.
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Stagger Lesson Changeover Times
The main issue with schooling is the risk of having hundreds of students piled into a small corridor all pushing each other trying to get past. Even without the existence of COVID-19, the changeover between lesson time can be really chaotic. By staggering lesson time endings, one class at a time can swiftly move through the corridor without risking a huge bunch of students coming together.
This also applies to when the students are let out of school at the end of the day; staggering this will help the streets become less congested and thereby reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
Encourage the Use of Hand Sanitizer
Hand sanitizer is great for killing bacteria, so if you encourage the use of it regularly, germs and viruses will be less likely to spread around. Ideally, all students should carry their own hand sanitizer, but this should also be provided by the school for those who do not have access to it. If there is hand sanitizer readily available in every room, students will get into the habit of using it before and after their lessons, which will make the school a lot safer.
It can be really difficult trying to balance safety and lessening the effects of COVID-19 on the education system. Where schools are allowed to stay open for periods at a time, it is vital that you take as many precautions as possible and do not let your safety standards slip. Once students are in the habit of following the new rules, they will adapt easily and the change will not seem so bad.
Great Article