CHILDREN, teachers and parents were excited Monday as some some schools in St Catherine reopened for face-to-face classes yesterday at the start of the Easter term, following a directive given last week by the education ministry.

The wearing of face masks, temperature checks and sanitisation were highly emphasised at institutions the Jamaica Observer visited, as schools ensured COVID-19 protocols were observed.

Vice-principal at Southborough Primary School Lyndon Edwards, who said approximately 500 students attended classes, is anticipating a higher turnout in the coming days.

“Indeed, it’s a refreshing feeling — the look on the students’ faces, happiness all around. It’s obvious that the children are satisfied being in an environment that is very conducive to learning. They are able to see their teachers, their classmates, and are pretty much ready to engage for this academic year,” he said.

Edwards, who was busily teaching a group of grade six students, said he hopes those who will be sitting the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exams this year will quickly adjust to the new normal in order to do well.

One of his students, 11-year-old Camoya Henry, said “Being in the physical space makes me feel more comfortable, and I can talk to my classmates and interact with my teacher better.”

At Naggo Head Primary, Principal Andria Givans echoed a similar sentiment, noting that she and her students were happy to return to school.

“It’s good. I think the students themselves are elevated to be back on the physical plant. The first day has a little teething pains but I know it will be a gradual process in terms of how we get things sorted,” she said.

The only challenge, Givans pointed out, is getting students accustomed to not going to the canteen to purchase lunches in order to avoid social gathering.

“That has been discussed with parents where teachers will take the orders and they will deliver the lunches to the classes, because we are minimising the movements,” she said.

At the same time, principal at Port Henderson Primary School, Rahmona Bromfield expressed relief as she shared that over 35 per cent of her students had not been attending online classes.

“Having students here face to face, this is what we would have wanted. We are overwhelmed with what is happening. I am so excited [that] I can’t sit down, because I got accustomed to not seeing students for over two years. Today we have 58 students face to face and I am sure that once the message gets around to the other parents, we will have more students coming in,” she said.

Grade one teacher at the institution, Kerisha Brown added “It is an awesome feeling. I was waiting for this. The students are just over the top. I wish I had all my students in class. We are excited to be here.”

One of her students, seven-year-old Kevin Lodge, was equally overjoyed.

“I am so happy. I want to learn and make friends,” he said.

His classmate Aiden Anderson added, “I am excited to learn.”

Meanwhile, at Spanish Town Primary School, students were being taken to the institution off by their loved ones.

Chrisaneke Young was one such student and was accommodated by her mother Nicola Laing and one-year-old sister, Tonishae Smith.

“ I want to see my teachers, meet my friends and be in the class for the first time,” said Young who smiled brightly while glancing eagerly at her grade four classroom.

Some parents were also seen at the principal’s office purchasing uniforms and collecting important documents for their children to return to school.

One parent, Tamieka Buckner, said she was glad her nine-year-old daughter Akelah Rowe can finally experience face-to-face learning once more.

“When mi hear seh school a open, it shock mi yuh si! Mi jus’ go round and start buy her things same time. Mi happy bad… She will get fi focus more, even if a fi two or three days at school. If a did even fi one day she get, mi would a happy same way because it nuh make sense you finish school and nuh know nutten,” she said.

Another parent, Keneisha Medley, said her grade three son needed to be back into the physical classroom, as he is a slow learner.

“The smaller ones really needed this. In online school as you turn your back, dem gone. Mi glad, even though it’s really tough for some parents to get their students ready for school. But, wi still a do wi best same way,” she said.

At the same time, checks by the Observer with three high schools – Waterford High School, Ascott High School and Jonathan Grant High School – mostly revealed empty schoolyards, with administrators busy in meetings most of yesterday morning.

Of the three high schools, only Jonathan Grant High received students for the day.

Vice-principal for shift B at Jonathan Grant High School, Shepherd Boxster said she was grateful for the reopening, even though only grade 11 students were scheduled to attend face-to-face classes.

“It is great to be back at school. For us, we are not really having the full amount of our students here, just a fraction of them. Roughly 120 students are here. They are here based on a timetable so for me, it’s good,” said Boxster.

She told the Observer that next week a sensitisation session will be held to welcome the remaining cohort. This, she said, will be extremely important — especially for grade seven students who have not received an official school tour.