As some pupils across the country finish their first week back in classrooms, children at one independent school in West Sussex have returned without their usual school uniforms.
Burgess Hill Girls welcomed back pupils in nursery, reception, year one and year six classes on Monday 1 June following the lockdown and introduced various health and safety procedures.
School uniforms have been ditched and children are instead wearing “comfortable home clothes and shoes” for all activities.
One reason for this could be that home clothes can easily be washed more regularly, to reduce the spread of infection.
Students have been told to leave toys and books at home and parents are no longer allowed inside the school perimeter. To keep the school community from mixing, specific drop off points have been set up for different classes away from the main school gates.
The school is also hoping to welcome back year 10 and 12 classes in the next few weeks.
Burgess Hill Girls head Liz Laybourn said: “We are delighted to be able to welcome back some of our pupils this week. I am incredibly grateful to our staff, parents and children for their support in making it happen. Seeing the girls’ happy faces as they get stuck-in to school life again makes it all worthwhile. I am now looking forward to the time the whole school community will be back together, hopefully it will not be long.”
Many other schools have asked children to come to school in fresh, clean home clothes – rather than re-wearing their uniform. Schools have also instructed pupils to bring bottled water to school and to avoid using water fountains.
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