As pupils are welcomed back to school across Wiltshire this week, we spoke to a few of the schools. Deputy head teacher at Clarendon Academy in Trowbridge, David Cade said this week was about a phased return to in-class learning. Monday and Tuesday this week were occupied with giving pupils the first of three lateral flow tests. On Wednesday morning, pupils at Clarendon College returned to classrooms following two days of lateral flow testing at the school. Pupils at Clarendon Academy brave the rain as they make their way back to school Photo Trevor Porter Mr Cade said the school’s priority was the safety of pupils and that parents were kept up to date with what to expect once children were allowed to come back to class.
At Holy Trinity CE Primary Academy, in Great Cheverell, children had a unique return to the classrooms. Years 4 and 5 spent their first day back working together as a team to build a huge tetrahedron out of smaller and smaller tetrahedrons. Headteacher Mercedes Henning said: As well as the geometry of the work, and the skills of joining pieces of dowel together with elastic bands, they had to remain focused, work cooperatively, be resilient, talk to each other, help each other and they achieved a great result at the end. These are some of the skills we need them to hone after their time away from classroom work.