When it was announced that schools in Denmark were reopening – five weeks after lockdown began – many were anxious.
My twins, a boy and a girl aged six, are in their first year of primary school. Was it too soon, we wondered. How could social distancing be enforced with the younger children?
How would teachers manage when they are accustomed to hovering over pupils as they help them to read and write?
Schools in Denmark (pictured) have now been open for around two months and many parents were nervous at first about sending their children back into regular educational surroundings
Danish schools were told to maintain the two-metre social distancing rules, a requirement that was enforced at all levels
Could this really be done if they were two metres apart, which was the initial requirement?
Two months on, I can report that not only have the teachers coped brilliantly with all the challenges but our children seem to be thriving in the new system.
And that is a joy after such difficult times – and a relief that we can now get on with our own work without trying to juggle it with home schooling.
Lockdown began on March 11, long before most other European countries, and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also announced that schools would be closed until further notice.
The first two weeks of home schooling were stressful but we adapted. Teachers posted assignments on the school’s digital platform, and my wife Karen and I shared the teaching.
But the children missed their friends, their teachers and the school routine.
Home schooling was a joy for some parents in Denmark, but many found that the children missed their friends and school environment
So when we were told that from April 15, schools could reopen – only for six to ten-year-olds at first, with older children following a week later – if they could comply with social distancing and hygiene rules, my wife and I did not hesitate to send them back to Tove Ditlevsens Skole in Copenhagen.
The twins only started school last August and were still adjusting to classroom behaviour such as having to sit still for long periods and knowing when to keep quiet.
The longer they stayed away, the harder it would be to relearn that behaviour.
Not all parents agreed and many still do not. There is a Facebook group called ‘My child should not be a guinea pig for Covid-19’, which has 38,000 members.
But most were reassured by teachers and the two big teaching unions here which backed schools reopening and felt confident that they could make them safe.
And they were right: since schools reopened, the infection rate in Denmark has continued to fall.
In the two months since schools reopened in Denmark, the number of infections across the country have continued to fall
It is down to the hard work of teachers in making schools ready for life after Covid-19; they have opened up spaces not normally used for teaching so children can be spread out, there are hand sanitisers everywhere and pupils are drilled in how to protect themselves and each other.
Each class of 28 children was split into groups of nine or ten and the children stay in these all day, even at break times.
This has caused some problems – it is hard to tell a six-year-old that they cannot play with their friend in another group!
The schoolyard is divided into zones with tape, a bit like a crime scene, and the children must stick to their zones.
For the time being, the school day has been shortened. Each institution is different but ours runs from 8am to 1pm as normal, with after-school care from 1-5pm; we are doing without the normal pre-school care from 6.30am.
Away from school premises, many museums and other venues that have yet to open are letting local schools use their space to teach in. The twins have lessons every other day at a cultural centre normally used for concerts.
The school playground areas in Denmark are divided into zones which pupils must stick to, with hand sanitizers placed everywhere around the premises (pictured)
When the weather is good, teaching can take place outside. On my way to work I pass a class being taught on a football ground.
The Danish attitude is: ‘We have to work together, so if you say this is what we need, we will do our best to make it work.’
Teachers have commented on how calm the atmosphere is, with less conflict, and they have been given greater flexibility in how they teach, making lessons more engaging.
For example, my son played ninepin bowling in his maths lesson – he had to add up the total of the pins he bowled over. This is the kind of creativity everyone is welcoming.
We hope that when this is over we can continue with some of these positive innovations, although of course smaller classes cost money.
Class sizes have also increased recently in Denmark, while the two-metre social distancing rule has been reduced to a one-metre restriction
Things are easing up a little further now: the two-metre rule has become one metre, and in my children’s school class sizes are up to 14 pupils.
In many other schools the hours are back to normal so that parents can return to work, to help the economy.
Slowly our children’s lives are returning to normal. They have benefited enormously from the return to school, not only in terms of their education but their social skills.
Even the very youngest children have had to practise responsibility, kindness, self-discipline and independence – and they will be all the better for it.
I hope other countries will take heart from our experience.