PREP
Online lessons have proved very effective for Horris Hill
LESSONS LEARNED Head of Horris Hill Prep School in Berkshire, Giles Tollit, reflects on a year spent adapting the ever-shifting rules of the new normal, from Zoom classrooms and lesson hours to bolstering community spirit remotely
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ith schools not reopening until 8 March, we can step back and look at almost an entire 12 months of schooling that has been extraordinary for all involved. Even the traditional rhythm of the year has been disrupted: we’ve thought more in terms of ‘versions’ of school. Following the closure of all schools on 23 March last year as we went into the Easter holidays, Version One in April 2020 was full virtual schooling, with all pupils (except those in critical worker families) learning off site; Version Two at the beginning of June saw increasing numbers of pupils and staff back on site, as pre-preps and year six reopened, followed by other year groups – but still often limited by time or numbers. Some year groups continued to learn online, even if back at school. Schools had to decide which groups to switch to face-to-face teaching. Version Three in September followed a very busy summer for heads, bursars and senior staff, as school routines were completely redesigned to accommodate bubbles, one-way systems, and hand-washing time. Teaching could be faceto-face, but bubbles often meant using staff and spaces differently, as positive cases of the virus were detected. The sudden move to Version Four in January this year – which saw us back into a fully virtual provision – was unexpected, and now we wait for further details of Version Five which we hope will commence in March, but I think we’re all expecting a staggered re-entry, perhaps with regional variations, and not all pupils back until the summer term for Version Six all being well, school life might look, and feel, normal in September after an historic 18 months. Here at Horris Hill, we had a very successful summer term. Virtual learning was new to us all but both staff
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