Hundreds of Harlow pupils return to school early for Covid testing

Pupils say the Covid pandemic has been hugely disruptive to their lives and hope the new academic year will be smoother. For those turning up early for Covid tests, what is it like to be back in school and how can teachers make learning fun once again?

The new academic year officially begins on Thursday at the Passmores Academy in Harlow.

But many pupils have gone in a day early for a rapid Covid test.

Among those is Jess, who is about to start Year 9.

"It's just to be safe and to keep everyone else safe," says the 13-year-old.

Her little sister got Covid-19 at the start of the year, she says, "but not too bad".

Jess says school has been difficult during the coronavirus pandemic and has affected her learning.

"You get taken out of a lot of learning and my last full year wasn't even in secondary, I was in primary, so I've not had full learning and I've got GCSEs next year," she says.

Jess says she is "hoping for the best" for the new school term.

"I'm hoping no-one gets pulled out because they've got coronavirus," she says, adding that she is "just praying" that everything goes according to plan this year.

At one point during the last school term, Karys found herself to be one of just three pupils in class, and one day was on her own.

But heading into the new academic year, the 13-year-old says she is feeling optimistic and thinks it will go "quite well".

"Hopefully not as many people are going to get sent home," says Karys, who is about to start Year 9.

She says she feels "lucky" that coronavirus has not directly affected her family too much.

Her brother-in-law had it on Christmas Eve but no-one else in the family has had it, she says.

Karys says she also knows other classmates who were sent home during the last term though she never was.

"I know how to keep myself safe now, I've been doing it for quite a while," she adds.

The lateral flow testing is voluntary and pupils can sign up for it if they want it.

They will then be tested a second time, three to five days apart.

At Passmores Academy, where 800 out of 1,200 pupils have volunteered for the testing, that second test will happen on Monday.

Those who test positive will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace and instructed to isolate.

It is hoped the measures will help prevent the spread of Covid, even though rules around social-distancing, "bubbles" and mask-wearing have been relaxed.

Looking back at the last academic year, when children had to be home-schooled for a bulk of the time, co-principal Vic Goddard says it "wasn't much fun".

"The children are the fun of this job and if they're not here, it isn't fun.

"Working from home isn't fun, if you chose to be a teacher you chose it because you like interacting with young people," he says.

He says even though the last year will have affected the pupils' learning, they have "plenty of time to catch up".

The psychological impact has also been "noticeable", he says.

"The young people have been quicker to anger, there's been frustration, a lack of clarity in knowing what's going to happen, and lots of new rules imposed on them with a drop of a hat which is difficult," says Mr Goddard.

"It's not been easy. The things that are missing are the interactions, the school trips, football matches, the art club, all those things where children find their passion and build their passion."

But, he says, he is "desperate for the fun to come back".

He says there will be more extracurricular activities this term, such as inter-school sport, and hopefully they will be able to run school trips.

Mr Goddard says he's nervous about the new school term but is "looking forward to it"

"I love my job, I'm lucky to have it, I'm looking forward to it going back to how it was before two years ago."

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]