Going back to school discussion

[Bri MT]

What's it like?

How are you feeling about it?

Do people seem to be taking social distancing seriously?

When I was last at uni we had tape on the ground and pieces of paper on tables saying where to (not) sit for social distancing + info posters. Felt weird but I think it would feel more normal now given everything that's happened in the weeks since then.

[s110820]

Hi Bri and the ATAR Notes community!

I have nearly finished my first day back at school today and all I can say is that it was just weird. But as much as I love my school, its library and the "academic" environment, I just felt uncomfortable transitioning from six weeks of online/distance learning to physical learning again. The adjustment for me took a while to get used to, especially since I got lost on my own school campus (the one that I have been on for the past six years!!). But I love being back at school again -- it's a little bit weird but I consider school to be my "home away from home" especially because I feel a lot more productive and studious at school than at home. But in short, online learning vs physical learning has its pros and cons but of course, it would be different for everyone

In terms of your other question, people at my school do seem to take social distancing seriously, to some extent. However, it is more of my teachers and peers who are conscious about the effects of the virus (me included) are using distancing measures a lot more than the other students. I'm not exactly sure of the attitude surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, but I'm sure that, at my school, my peers would be considerable and understanding of the situation.

At my school, I've had the same! In my library, particularly, have tape on the ground and pieces of paper on the table for where not sit for social distancing. We don't have COVID-19 related posters at my school, but we do have information posters about germs in general (like the washing hands posters). Of course, it felt extremely weird for me to be back at school but I do hope that life would feel a bit more normal now that we are transitioning back to "normal" or our "new" normal.

Have a great week and kind regards,

Darcy Dillon.

[Einstein_Reborn_97]

It's pretty good actually, I'm really glad to be back at school. I already feel like order, structure and the aura of diligence that ought to be with a Year 12 student have already crept back into my system haha. Face-to-face interactions with my friends, classmates and teachers will never be taken for granted again! I've always loved school and now more than ever.

Outside classrooms, people do not seem to be taking social distancing seriously. Walking from the bus to the bag area in the morning, I witnessed girls throwing themselves at each other, hugging for probably too long lol and standing WAY too close as well. Most of the guys were similarly staying too close and giving handshakes (which I mostly politely declined with a laugh). It was like COVID-19 never existed! The whole year group had to meet first in the morning and it's almost laughable how impractical social distancing measures can be.

The teachers did implement some social distancing measures. Where it could be done, students sat on separate desks spaced out from each other (although obviously there can be a few too many people for that to happen). There were hand sanitisers in every classroom, which we were instructed to use before and after each lesson. We had a Chem prac today and social distancing did not happen as much as desirable, having to work in pairs, line up to use the fume cupboard, etc.

[Stormbreaker-X]

I wish Victoria was returning lol, honestly I am not a big fan of online learning at all.

[Justin_L]

I feel like our school's return has been pretty well coordinated. Our school has massive tubs of antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer in every room, and there are rigorous infection control procedures in place. We use hand sanitizer at the beginning of every class, and wipe down our desks and equipment with disinfectant wipes at the end for the next class. Classes are also limited to 15 people, so we often do online learning anyways for larger classes like Math and English.

In terms of social distancing, we're only really doing it between years and friend groups. Junior years have allocated areas since they're only in one day a week, but seniors are just encouraged to spread out and use classrooms for study instead of the library.

There are a couple of weird things my school has done too. They've made all corridors one way only, which is a massive hassle as it now takes much longer to go between classes. They also have about 5 pieces of tape on the ground outside each classroom, which is useless considering we can't physically maintain social distancing in the hallways without intruding on other classes.

All in all, I'm really glad to be back. Year 12 is afforded a lot of privileges, and the teachers are mainly focused on the junior years. I think there's a mutual understanding in our year about the seriousness of this situation, but also a practical understanding that the risk of transmission is extremely low if we're not exhibiting symptoms and have properly sanitized before contact.

[lm21074]

It felt like a normal school day to me. I eased into it quickly because there was always something I had to be doing and not much had changed from last term. I was feeling really anxious leading up to the transition back to face-to-face learning because I ended up really behind with my work due to mental health issues and personal problems which lead to a very shitty nine weeks at home. However, I think I was catatrophising about what it would be like to return to the demands of learning at school and it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I feel a lot better going back to school because of the routine and having a better learning environment than my bedroom where I'll just sleep and get distracted.

As Year 11s and 12s have gone back to school, there is a lot more room to move around. I thought this would result in perhaps spreading classes out across buildings, but we were in our usual classrooms. This resulted in congestion in the hallways of the buildings, so very difficult to pull off distancing there.

Not many students at my school are taking social distancing seriously (I prefer physical distancing because it's all about the 1.5m+ distance between others and yourself).

The teachers want four students per table to make contact tracing easier in the event of people catching the virus. However, one of my teachers let six people sit together on a table as he said the chances of contracting the virus are remote (yes, he used the word remote after returning from the world of remote learning) and that the social distancing was mainly between the teachers and students. We can't visit teachers' offices at all to ask for help, and if we need help during class, the teacher will explain using the whiteboard and will remain at the front of the room. Worksheets are not handed out either. Somehow my school managed to get hand sanitiser bottles for each classroom. Otherwise, not much has changed at all.

There are still people hugging each other and pushing to get to their lockers. There are still people squishing up on benches, playing contact sports and even PDA.

I hope everyone else is finding the transition back to uni / school / work / life as we knew it before COVID okay