Felsted welcomes senior pupils back to school​

Felsted School welcomed back the first of its senior school pupils this week since the switch to home learning at the end of March. Extensive measures have been put in place to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of all pupils, with staff working hard to deep clean all areas, rearrange classrooms and mark out two metre distances and one way routes around the school. A number of Year 12s will be attending on Mondays and Tuesdays for the next three weeks, with Year 10s attending on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Felsted has remained open in a limited capacity for children of key workers with a dynamic home learning programme called ‘Felsted at Home’ for all age groups running alongside, which will continue until every pupil is safely able to return. This programme includes an extensive co-curricular microsite which children can follow alongside their academic work. This co-curricular microsite is full of ideas, from cookery competitions and fitness routines through to art, design and cartoon drawing. It is accessible to all via our main website felsted.org.

Reception, Year 1 and 6 pupils were the first year groups to return to Felsted in the first week of June, with numbers growing each day as families become more confident about them returning to school.

Chris Townsend, Headmaster of Felsted School comments; “It has been a huge effort by all our staff over the past few months to keep our educational offering to the highest of standards remotely, but even more so to prepare for their safe return with all the obvious hurdles to overcome. All those returning were sent communications on the changes they would see when returning and the measures they would be following to protect their health and safety. Drop off times are staggered so children are not all arriving together, temperature checks are being performed at the beginning of the day, alongside regular hand washing at our newly developed washing stations, and classrooms have been rearranged to accommodate distanced desks. There has been much to plan to ensure the safety of both our pupils and staff. However, it is a delight to see some of them back, and to see the enjoyment of them seeing their friends and teachers after such a long time is just fantastic.”

Deputy Headmaster, George Masters, comments; “We were delighted to see our pupils happy to be back. Learning has taken place inside and outside with the children practising keeping a distance yet working together. Everyone has adapted very well to the new rules and systems we have in place, to keep everyone safe, and parents have been very supportive and appreciative of the care that has been taken to make the return such a success.”