A Fife head teacher has praised senior pupils for their resilience in adapting to ever changing qualification assessment setbacks.
Senior pupils at Queen Anne High School in Dunfermline are being prioritised in the return to school as they work to complete essential coursework in order to receive accreditation from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).
Pupils in S1-S3 will be assigned one full day in school until the Easter holidays to allow them to reconnect with their peers.
But as exams were scrapped and schools were closed, seniors are facing an overwhelming challenge as they rely on the alternative method, which includes coursework and teacher assessments.
Despite them learning from home for approximately three months, head teacher Ruth McFarlane said she has every confidence her pupils will succeed.
She said: “I think people sometimes really underestimate young people, they underestimate their resilience and their adaptability.
“Young people at Queen Anne High School have had to reinvent their approach multiple times in the last year to respond to the changing SQA parameters of assessment.
“That has caused them and their families anxiety, as well as the school, but I could not speak more highly of how they have responded to that.”
The school is preparing to rally around pupils who may need additional support as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s absolutely no doubt it’s been a massive pressure on all educational staff, from school leaders, teachers, classroom assistants and admin teams.”
“One of our main objectives going back will be to target those young people that haven’t had that network of support to do absolutely everything we can as a school to scoop them up and support them over these three months to ensure they’re catching up with their learning and to support them to generate the evidence needed to get them the best award possible.
“Most young people have done amazingly well but some have struggled and we’re aware of that and know who they are and we’ll be doing everything we can to get them ready for that next stage.”
Back to school challenges
School staff have overcome their own obstacles in preparing to reopen as they introduce physical distancing into the school building, which means class sizes have been cut to around 10 pupils at a time.
Almost a third of pupils will be in school each day and seniors will be allocated additional learning time on Fridays to catch up with their studies.
While Ms McFarlane is pleased to have all pupils back in school in some capacity, she says staff were “shocked” by the decision and had expected smaller group returns instead.
The limited timeframe also placed huge pressures on school staff across Fife.
There’s a glimmer of hope coming really soon with the prospect of having them all back after Easter.”
“In phase one we just had senior phase pupils doing their practical work, we thought phase two would build on that model.
“Schools were obviously quite shocked and had to replan a lot of what they were putting in place.”
She added: “There’s absolutely no doubt it’s been a massive pressure on all educational staff, from school leaders, teachers, classroom assistants and admin teams.
“There’s lots and lots of different staff contributing to making this happen and to be honest staff have done an amazing job.
“But we’re pleased to be getting them all back. There’s a glimmer of hope coming really soon with the prospect of having them all back after Easter.”
