Horsham headteacher: ‘children are very excited to be back in school, see friends and get on with life’

Children are very excited to return to school, be reunited with their friends and get on with life.
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This is the message from Greenway Academy headteacher Karen White ahead of pupils returning in full to school on Monday, March 8.

Speaking to the County Times, Karen said: “At Greenway, all the staff have been working hard planning the return to school for the children and the parents.

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Parents have been kept informed and their new handbook was issued last week so they had plenty of time to digest and contact us if they aren’t sure about things.”

Headteacher Mrs White at Greenway Primary, Horsham. Pic Steve Robards SR2103021 SUS-210203-134850001Headteacher Mrs White at Greenway Primary, Horsham. Pic Steve Robards SR2103021 SUS-210203-134850001
Headteacher Mrs White at Greenway Primary, Horsham. Pic Steve Robards SR2103021 SUS-210203-134850001

The systems and procedures are mainly the same, so everyone should feel confident on Monday morning, she added.

Karen said: “With the added benefits of in-school Lateral Flow Tests for the adults, everyone already feel much more confident and are looking forward to getting back to the business of learning and progress.

“I am sure many of our families will do the home testing when it is available so we can all work together to break the chains of transmission.”

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This week, the school is working on the transition back to school, she added, to help make sure everyone feels confident about coming back.

Karen said: “Clearly, from our online sessions, all of the children are very excited about being back in school, looking forward to seeing their friends and getting on with life.

“We are hoping by the summer term, we will be able celebrate with our year 6 pupils, who will be going onto their secondary schools, with a production and the Greenway Graduation – plans in place and fingers crossed.”

Headteacher of Tanbridge House Jules White added: “We are looking forward to welcoming back all students to Tanbridge House.

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“We will do this in safe, measured and secure way as it’s important to mitigate on going risks whilst addressing the urgent need to see students back in school. It will be terrific to finally get back to some sort of normality.”

Arunside School said it looks forward to welcoming back its 400 pupils on Monday, March 8.

A spokeswoman added: “Whilst we have had over 100 children attending as key worker and vulnerable pupils during lockdown and received great parental support for our home learning programme with wonderful engagement from the children for their live learning sessions, we believe it is the right decision for children to be back in school, where they can flourish and grow both academically and socially.

“Moving forward, children need time to talk, to be creative, to be active and appreciate the outdoors. This, alongside, a high standard of quality first teaching will ensure children make the accelerated progress they deserve.

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“It is important that we move the language away from ‘catch up, being behind and having gaps’ to being more celebratory of our children’s successes over lockdown and being positive about what they can achieve and look to ways that we can ensure every child is ready for the next stage in their school career.”

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