Covid-19: Archbishop Sancroft High School finds positives in lockdown
After the prime minister announced schools in England would not reopen to all pupils until 8 March at the earliest, BBC News visited a secondary school in Norfolk to see how its head teacher, staff and pupils were coping.
The head teacher
Rob Connelly says he has seen a number of positives come out of the way his "amazing" staff at Archbishop Sancroft High School have adapted to lockdown learning.
"We've had to be very agile and improvise and learn new skills," he says.
"Seeing our teachers develop new ways of delivering our curriculum has been remarkable.
"We will use some of the skills that perhaps we would never have considered, when school returns full time, and our teaching will be enhanced."
The school is close-knit, with just 485 pupils from the small Norfolk town of Harleston and its surrounding villages.
"It's a vibrant place and we miss that noise and we miss having the children, and the life of the school within this building," he adds.
"But we've found this has galvanised our community; the amount of pastoral work our staff are doing with students, with welfare checks - we are speaking to students and families every day.
"Those relationships are so important and communication for us has been critical."
His toughest challenge as a head teacher has been uncertainty and he says he welcomes the latest decision by government, as it gives them fair warning and a chance to plan.
"We are hopeful there are some positive elements to this, and we need to convey that message."
The teacher
Throughout January, Lucy Field has been delivering live PE lessons from her living room - not unlike Joe Wicks - to help keep students "up and at 'em".
"It's gone down really well and I try to do something different each week, like 'beat the teacher', where teachers do an exercise, time it, and challenge the students to do better than them," she says.
"It's energised the students and they've loved taking us on, it's all about keeping fit and having fun at home."
But it's not all plain sailing.
"I've been teaching for 15 years and I've never known a year like it," she adds.
"Teachers are designed to be around students, and that's what I've missed - the daily interactions and conversations - but you just have to adapt, think on your feet, and stay positive.
"I can't lie, it's been really challenging, but you have to dust yourself off and do your best for the kids, because that's what you're trained for.
"It's about supporting each other, talking to each other, and just keeping each other going."
The pupil
Melissa, 15, feels very positive about her education since lockdown.
"School is doing a good job at keeping the level of learning up, on a day-to-day level and helping us live our high school lives," she says.
"It would be good if school could go back to normal and we could see our friends face-to-face, and socialise with teachers, other than through a screen.
"The best thing is still being able to see your teachers and friends and communicating through texting on the Zoom calls, but the downside is that if you need help, you have to ask in front of the whole class, it's not like calling a teacher over to your desk.
"But the school has done some really good work making sure the lessons are done properly and we're all at the level we need to be."
