THE headteacher of the John Masefield High School has praised students and staff for coping well with the the challenges of the Covid pandemic.

Writing in the school's latest newsletter, Andrew Evans said: "After completing the first month of the Autumn Term we have been most impressed with how students, staff and parents are working together to keep everyone as safe as we can and to achieve our primary aim of excellent and enjoyable learning for all.

"The ethos in lessons has been consistently good, students have been supportive of school staff, who have multiple challenges including arriving slightly late to their classes moving from the opposite side of the school for their lesson and having no consistent teaching base."

He added: "When students arrive at a lesson before their teacher, we are asking them to make sure they go to their allocated seat, get their books and equipment out and read through and review the content covered in their previous lesson. The vast majority of students are being considerate and this helps give the teacher time to log in to the computer and commence the first teaching activity for the class."

Mr Evans said: "I am particularly pleased that with additional cleaning in place, practical work has been able to take place in all relevant subjects, including cookery, art and design, ICT and computing, design and technology, PE, dance, drama and music. The teachers for these subjects have worked incredibly hard to ensure that safety protocols are implemented and that practical work can take place. We feel that students benefit hugely from practical tasks in terms of enjoyment and motivation as well as gaining important skills."

Staggered arrival times have been introduced, across age groups, for students who walk to school, and these are being observed.

There are also staggered lunch times.

This week, the High School was set to host an online sixth form evening, and this follows a virtual open week, held last week.