The initiatives being undertaken by the School as part of its commitment to ‘Keeping Uppingham Safe’ during the Covid-19 pandemic have caught the eye of national newspapers.
Uppingham’s range of creative enterprises aimed at allowing pupils to continue their schooling as normally as possible have featured in both the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, with the latter highlighting the “impressive resilience” of the independent school sector and the resources that schools like Uppingham are pledging to minimise disruption to education.
At the beginning of the new academic year this month, every pupil and frontline member of staff at Uppingham received a test, regardless of whether they had Covid-19 symptoms. The screening was managed on-site by the School and carried out by a private firm.
Headmaster Dr Richard Maloney told the Sunday Telegraph: “We’re really fortunate that we have the resources to take the strain away from the health service.”
The screening was done not only to ensure that the School commenced the new term Covid-19 free but also out of respect for the local community which had understandable anxieties about schools returning. The School wished to be able to reassure all in its community that term was starting with everyone Covid-19 free.
Upon return to school, all pupils were divided into ‘residency pods’, taking advantage of the space that the School offers. If a pupil becomes ill, only those in his or her pod needs to isolate.
During the spring, Uppingham became the first independent school to announce its reopening plans to the parents of pupils, with Dr Maloney telling the Daily Telegraph: “We became conscious quite quickly when we read the research that schools can be made safe places.”
As part of ‘Keeping Uppingham Safe’, the School uses official Covid-19 alert levels to inform the precautions that it takes. The Boarding Schools’ Association’s Covid-Safe Charter has also been adopted.
Other initiatives include renting a small, local hotel as an off-site base for any pupils who need to self-isolate. It offers the School community a secure and safe haven close by but adequately distanced to ensure complete and effective isolation to help keep the whole School community safe
Contingency plans are already being considered were there to be another full-scale national lockdown. Uppingham could “pull up the drawbridge and hunker down”, with Dr Maloney informing the Sunday Telegraph: “That’s our plan because we think we can do that safely, with all our pupils boarding here.”
Ensuring pupils and staff can engage as normally as possible with education and learning this academic year follows on from the online lessons undertaken during the summer term. In his Headmaster’s Addresses, Dr Maloney paid tribute to all those people who had come together as a vibrant and supportive community to make a success of that initiative during challenging times.
Exclusive: Private school unveils its own track and trace system | Telegraph (19 June 2020)
Photographs: David Rose, Telegraph
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