Coronavirus: Back to school, but not back to normal

Pupils have returned to class after schools were shut for more than five months

It's a new school term like no other - going back to class in a pandemic has brought many changes and challenges for teachers, pupils and parents.

New rules on face coverings; social distancing and hygiene have added extra pressure on schools and families during what is already a busy time of year.

After the first full week of the new normal, BBC News NI has been hearing some personal experiences from inside and outside the classroom.

'Is that line to keep you safe from us?'

Many playgrounds have been sectioned off with tape to keep class groups in social bubbles

Teacher Jackie Coade has just taken charge of a class of 19 children at a Belfast primary school and says her first few days have been positive, but at times "bizarre".

Staff are wearing masks and the school has introduced several measures to maintain social distancing, including signage on floors to show which direction to walk around her P4 classroom.

"I had one pupil point to a marking on the floor and say: 'Is that line to keep you safe from us?' Fancy having a child say that."

Jackie Coade says her P4 pupils are coping well with the new rules

The substitute teacher says her instinct has always been to protect her pupils, but she never thought they would ask if she needed protection from them.

However, Ms Coade says her class is generally "coping well" with the new rules and some pupils are even politely reminding each other to keep their distance.

The playground is now divided into three sections and break times are staggered so fewer children are using it at once.

P4 pupils eat lunch in their classroom in order to "minimise movement" around the school.

Many schools are using floor markings to encourage social distancing

Ms Coade is surprised by how much information children have absorbed from the media about Covid-19, especially when her class was given the chance to talk about their concerns.

"One pupil said: 'I was worried that I would come back to school and I would have a virus, but I wouldn't know that I had it and I would make everyone else sick.'"

Ms Coade adds the pandemic has complicated even the most simple tasks, such as helping a young pupil to tie their shoelaces.

"As an early years teacher, I'm used to being in primary schools where the children are very tactile, so it's a real change."

'All rush, rush, rush'

Busy mum Elaine Heatrick has eight children aged from four to 19

If you think your school run is tough, spare a thought for Elaine Heatrick - a single mother of eight from County Armagh.

Her children range in age from 19 down to twins aged four.

Her eldest starts university shortly, but her other children attend four different schools - the Royal School Armagh; the Royal School Dungannon; Armstrong Primary School and the Grove Nursery.

"I loved it when they were all at home," Elaine says. "They learned so much - life skills you don't learn in school."

She says lockdown gave her time to bake with her kids, hold outdoor lessons in their garden and enjoy quality family time they don't have when life is "all rush, rush, rush".

The Heatricks with their grandparents during lockdown

However, home schooling proved a little tricky when it came to long multiplication - Elaine's eldest cut back on her part-time job to help her mother teach her younger brothers and sisters.

The Heatricks' back to school run has been made even more difficult by the pandemic, because a school breakfast club some of them normally attend is not operating.

So at the last drop-off point, Elaine now waits in her car with her younger children for almost an hour each morning until the final school opens and lessons begin.

Bethany and James Heatrick on the school run on Friday morning

Each afternoon, she makes a 30-mile round trip to Dungannon so her children don't have to wait for hours after school for a bus, meaning they are home earlier to start their homework.

Another consequence of Covid is the lack of hot school meals for some of Elaine's children.

"They aren't allowed into the dining hall," she says, adding they have to eat lunch in their classroom instead.

Although she enjoyed a few months respite from her busy school run, Elaine believes the social aspect of school is important for children's development.

"They need to meet and have other children around them, they need that discipline and routine."

'Making new friends'

Hughie Beddard missed his friends during lockdown so is glad to be starting school

Twelve-year-old Hughie Beddard has just started his first year at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School in County Fermanagh.

He admits he was a bit anxious at first, but not because of Covid-19 or the thought of moving to a new school.

"I was a little worried about starting school again because I would have to get up early" he says.

Hughie missed his schoolmates and was "bored" during lockdown, so for those reasons he is glad to be back in class.

"It's good fun - seeing my friends again and making new ones", he says.

The pandemic has changed the look of the school day - his teachers are now wearing face shields in class and students must use face coverings in corridors.

"We have to wash our hands at breaktime and lunchtime - before and after," Hughie says.

There is a two-metre zone between the teacher's desk and the front row of his class, which he says seemed "a little strange" at first.

But he is taking the safety measures in his stride, saying: "You get used to it after a while."

Hughie has to wear a face covering in some areas of his school

He says he is not worried about infection at his new school as he feels reassured by all the sanitisers and hand washing rules.

His favourite subjects are art and maths and when he is older he hopes to become an architect, but how easy has it been to settle back into lessons after more than five months away from school?

For Hughie, home schooling wasn't all that different in his house as his mum also happened to be his P7 teacher.

But even with her help, he says he still missed his friends and "there were too many distractions".

Sometimes there is just no place like school.

• SOCIAL DISTANCING: What are the rules now?

• SUPPORT BUBBLES: What are they and who can be in yours?

• FACE MASKS: When do I need to wear one?

• SCHOOLS: What will happen if children catch coronavirus?

• TESTING: What tests are available?