Coronavirus: Back to Normality?

Hong Kong just announced their plan to ease back into normality caused by the coronavirus. Will everything go back to normal?

For myself, I was one of the lucky ones to have a job during the pandemic. ZOOM has been a great experience but is very tiring. I welcome the gradual return of students and I can’t wait to see my class for the first time!

Hong Kong’s Phasing Plan

Things are getting back to normal as there has been no local cases for over two weeks now. Hong Kong managed to contain the spread of the virus and is now looking at ‘reopening‘. Class resumption can start from the 20th of May at the earliest for Primary and Secondary schools. For the upper level of Kindergarten (K3), we are looking a date of the 15th of June. There has been no announcement for below the upper level of Kindergarten. My assumption is that the school year is over for them.

Schools however will not be fully opened instantly as only half-day sessions are allowed until further notice. There are a lot of restrictions, such as social distancing and cleaning arrangements, that will be enforced. This leads to the question, when and how can we return back to normality?

Restrictions and New Practices

I don’t have enough knowledge to comment on Primary and Secondary schools, as my expertise is in Kindergartens. In my opinion, I feel that it is far too early for them to return to school.

I can understand why only the upper level (K3) should return, as we need to prepare them for Primary School and their Graduation day. However, there will only be around 5-6 weeks left of the academic year. How productive can we be with all the restrictions and new practices that we need to execute?

The majority of the day I feel will be spent ensuring that the kids practice exceptional hygiene standards (as they should be doing in the first place!) and ensuring that we comply with the social distancing restrictions. At a young age, all they want to do is play and explore their surroundings. We are not providing them this with the temporary practices. I feel kids may feel even more frustrated.

My biggest concern is the amount of recording that we need to do regarding their health. We will need to do temperature checks by the hour and if one kid shows any symptoms, we will need to them home. Any child that has symptoms needs to reported and checkups must be undertaken to ensure that the virus has not spread within the school. With all the checks, necessary hygiene practices, social distancing, how can we execute our lessons effectively?

That saying, it is the best approach for Kindergartens, as we simply can’t have everyone coming back at the same time. It is wise to have the older kids to come back who know how to follow rules and instructions clearly. It is however a big ask for any kid under the age of 4 to practice social distancing and correct hygiene standards in an environment they are familiar with. The coronavirus may have set the new ‘normality’ with schools.

My Approach

I simply cannot wait to meet my class that I started in February, when schools shut down. I have seen a few outside of the school, but most I have not seen physically. The most common thing I tend to get asked what is the plan for when they come back, and I always tell the parents what to work on and what to expect.

• Daily routine of waking up and preparing for the school
• Understanding the school environment once again
• Practice social activities gradually in time
• Prepare them for the next step (Primary School)

It is going to be an interesting end of year. I wouldn’t even consider the resumption of class to be actually what it defines, as lessons, activities and schedule cannot be executed to the same degree as before the coronavirus.

I hope we can all get back to normal. We will get back to normality when the coronavirus pandemic passes. This ZOOM teaching is not for me in this capacity!

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