The headmaster at a school encourages families to “be bold” and implies that schools should not need to reinforce harsh Covid restrictions at the moment.

Some parents may be hesitant on the prospect of schools returning with the axing of social bubbles and other Covid restrictions that were in place last year.

With the speculation of a hypothetical ‘firebreak lockdown’ in October and possibly extending the school half-term, there have been some suggestions to reinforce harsh restrictions at schools.

However Jon Gray, the headmaster at York House on the outskirts of Croxley Green, is reassuring parents and children that everyone should “be bold” to utilise this period with pupils, and that he is feeling positive about the upcoming term.

He said: “Logistics for this term are considerably more straightforward than this time last year, so we should grab the opportunity to keep the necessary and sensible precautions in place without them becoming the dominant headline.

“Our approach at York House is to achieve every ounce of normality that we can from the first day back in September, in line with current advice.”

 

Pupils outside York House School

Pupils outside York House School

 

The headmaster explained that he was also mindful that imposing continued restrictions or taking a “wait and see” approach could delay much-needed learning opportunities for pupils.

He said: “If we keep lots of restrictions and reductions in place with a ‘wait and see’ approach, they likelihood is they will probably remain there until the summer term next year, particularly as the winter will not make the situation easier.

“We need to remain alert and continue taking the necessary precautions to keep our staff and children safe, but now is the time to be bold and to allow our pupils to catch up on much-missed learning experiences.”

With current Government guidance for schools being less restrictive than they were last year, school assemblies have restarted again and various co-curricular activities are continuing.

New sporting events and arts and drama performances have been scheduled, with planned parent attendance.

The headmaster concluded: “The remarkable success of the vaccination programme in this country puts us in a more positive position to be bolder and to help our pupils put all of the ill-effects of the pandemic in the rear view mirror.

“It is wonderful to have all of the children back again and we are looking forward to an exciting term ahead.”