Jesper Larsen, a headteacher in Copenhagen, Denmark, said Danish schools were able to go back to class a month ago because the country’s society respects government guidelines
While British schools will not begin to reopen after lockdown until the beginning of June at the earliest, at my school here in Denmark virtually all the children were back in class a month ago.
Gerbrandskolen primary school on the outskirts of Copenhagen, where I am Skoleleder, or head teacher, welcomed back nearly all of its 800 pupils on April 14, after the Easter holidays.
Most Danish schools for Grade Five and below – the under-11s – did the same. Secondary schools will reopen on Monday, May 18.
When I look across the North Sea to the UK, where teachers’ unions are resisting the Government’s call to go back to work, I feel very glad that I live and work in Denmark.
I can understand why union leaders might be concerned. I only wish they could come to see how we have managed the situation in Denmark, or at least talk to their counterparts here via video link. Then they might well be reassured.
In fact, they would see that conditions here are actually even safer, more hygienic and more disciplined than they were before the lockdown.
Danish society is typified by respect for authority. When government officials produce guidelines, we listen because we trust them. We don’t automatically assume we know better.
That’s how Denmark was able to establish an airtight lockdown before any other European country except Italy.
On March 11, when our prime minister Mette Frederiksen gave a televised press conference to announce that schools and businesses would close until further notice, there were only 514 people in the country believed to have coronavirus (compared to 416 in the UK at that time).
While some countries might have considered Denmark’s measures premature or draconian, our people were willing to listen to the authorities.
And our swift response appears to have paid off. Our toll stands at 533 deaths related to coronavirus, which is grim but not nearly as awful as the UK’s estimate of perhaps 50,000.
At the start of this week, shops, restaurants and cafes here reopened, and on Tuesday the state epidemiologist Kare Molbak declared the danger of a second coronavirus wave very unlikely.
Most importantly for me and my pupils, we have been able to carry on teaching. This has been achieved by splitting classes in half. Usually we’ll have about 25 children in a classroom but currently it’s 12 or 13.
This means having many more teachers. Usually we don’t use teaching assistants here but my staff has risen from just over 70 to nearly 110, so – as you can see – I’ve been hiring.
I am delighted to say many young and enthusiastic candidates have applied, eager to get out of lockdown and put their energy to good use.
The children have responded magnificently too. We began by enlisting the help of parents to explain that things were going to be different, but young people are very good at adapting quickly to new regimes.
We start each day by washing our hands at the pump in the school yard, and that’s a signal to everyone that things are no longer the same, that the whole day will have an emphasis on health.
Whenever anyone enters or leaves a room, they wash their hands. We are getting through gallons of hand sanitiser, and hand lotion too, to prevent their skin from drying out.
Children must sit a mandatory metre apart – it was two metres, but the government has now revised that advice.
On March 11, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen announced that schools and businesses would close until further notice when there were only 514 people in the country believed to have coronavirus, compared to 416 in the UK at that time. Picture: Stock
This rule doesn’t apply rigidly in the playground, because children are bound to bump up against each other outside.
Medical guidance is that the virus is much more likely to be transmitted by pupils in close proximity indoors.
They are put into groups of five or six for play, and those groups don’t change during the week, though we might occasionally swap group members around at weekends.
The best police for these rules are the children themselves. They are the first to tell each other to wash their hands or keep their distance.
Children love to know where the boundaries are, and behaviour in class has in fact been even better than before.
Partly because of the rigid new rules, and partly because of the higher ratio of adults to children, we are now seeing no arguments or fighting at all.
There also seems to be virtually no sickness. That is partly down to social distancing, of course, but also because of the enhanced hygiene standards.
We have cleaning staff patrolling the bathrooms and the communal corridors at all times, wiping and spraying with disinfectant.
I would like to see this new cleaning regime continue indefinitely, because it’s highly cost-effective: I no longer have to worry about the expense of hiring supply teachers to replace those calling in sick.
Since April 14, we have had just one teacher report symptoms of suspected Covid-19.
That was our only, minor scare. We didn’t panic. The teacher was advised to see a doctor and, following a positive Covid-19 test, is now fully recovered.
Other adults who had been in contact with the patient were tested, and all came back negative.
Parents were asked to keep an eye on their children for symptoms and no one reported anything.
A few felt the children should also have been tested, but the government guidance in these circumstance is that only the adults need be concerned. I’m a teacher, not a doctor, so I follow the official medical advice.
The unions here have presented no problems. From the outset, they were keen to see their members resume work, though they did have issues about the length of the working day. We compromised. Children now have 25 hours of lessons a week, arriving at 8am and leaving at 1pm each day.
For all but the very young pupils, the ones in reception class, that is a reduction in school hours. I can’t say I approved of it, but I accept the agreement.
An after-school club is available until 4pm but very few pupils use it – less than a dozen.
Most families have been flexible, with parents working in the morning and sharing childcare in the afternoon, and I think many enjoy the extra time they can now spend with their children, playing or helping with their homework.
The simple fact is, we’ve gone back to school and everything is fine. I really hope that Britain can take notice of the Danish example and feel reassured.