Inside the school that has been open for weeks
Amid a raging public debate on safety and if it is all right for children to return to their desks, one school has been quietly getting on with teaching students for weeks.
Verdala International School opened its doors to all 538 students at once on September 9, long before their peers at most other schools are due back next week.
The Pembroke school’s head, Totty Aris, said there is always a “fear of the unknown” about reopening schools in the pandemic, but in her experience, this eases off once everyone settles down to their routine.
“Once you know the engine is working, even if you have to tweak it a bit, then everybody calms down. It can work, it can definitely work,” she said.
She said the school, which teaches children from around 50 different countries, learned the importance of being flexible and accepting that things can change in an instant: what works on a Monday, she said, might no longer be valid on a Wednesday.
And the school has prioritised building its online platform so that, should there be any problems, students can continue their education from home.
Aris says it is important that parents are kept informed at every step.
“We shared everything so that everyone...