Birdswood Secondary School in Richards Bay ready for reopening

BIRDSWOOD Secondary is finalising preparations to receive 81 matric learners who are expected to return to school on Monday.

Principal Stanley Mazibuko told the ZO earlier this week that while the school was fully prepared for the arrival of educators who returned yesterday (Thursday), he would be engaging with the School Management Team (SMT) ahead of the return of learners next week.

‘We have been fortunate in that we already had cleaning products available which we were able use for deep cleaning the school and disinfecting as of last week Friday.

‘We have this week been rearranging the classrooms in line with the social distancing guidelines and ensuring Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and thermometers have all been collected,’ Mazibuko said.

The PPE includes masks for all learners and face shields for teachers as well as hand sanitisers which have all been received by the school.

‘Most of the work has been done in line with the protocols to ensure a safe and clean environment for learning and teaching,’ he said.

He said a plan of action is in place to catch up on lost academic time.

‘Although we have been providing study material and engaging learners through WhatsApp groups, as well as voice notes for subjects such as Physical Science, Maths and Economics, some learners were not able to access this platform.

‘Therefore, when we resume classes we will begin from scratch as though we had not been conducting any lessons online, in order to allow those learners who had no access to this information, to catch up.

‘We will also have to hit the ground running for all the other subjects and provide as much assistance and guidance to learners as possible so they are fully prepared for exams,’ Mazibuko said.