‘The virus doesn’t stop at the school gates’ – returning Park Community and Priory School pupils confused after latest government announcement

With schools exempt from the new regulation, pupils returning to Park Community and Priory Schools have questioned the rationale behind the decision.

Park Community School Year 11 pupil, Taylor Anderson, 16, said: ‘I just find it all a bit strange that the government are saying you can’t gather in a group of more than six people yet it is okay for over 1,000 people to come back together in school. I do worry about the virus as I don’t want to pass it on to someone who is vulnerable.’

Classmate, Max Wallis, added: ‘If the government are going to allow us back into school then I think they should make masks mandatory. The virus doesn’t just stop at the school gates.’

Fellow pupils at Priory School in Southsea have also been left questioning the logic behind the government’s announcement.

Samm Hart, 15, said: ‘I don’t see the logic as to how it is not safe to gather outside of school in more than a group of six yet in school it’s fine.’

Year 11 pupil, Emma Dillion, 15, also questioned the government’s guidelines for class and year bubbles.

‘We all of have brothers and sisters, as well as friends in school who are in different bubbles who we then see when we go home after school,’ she said.

It’s a sentiment shared by Park Community College headteacher, Chris Anders, who said: ‘I don’t like the term bubble as it is only a bubble until it bursts. The social restriction of six people announced by the government is another example of the ongoing changes we have got used to.’

SEE ALSO: The 'excitement' of pupils returning and the challenges ahead - Park Community School headteacher reflects on reopening of schools

Headteacher at Priory School, Stewart Vaughan, believes the latest announcement by the government is indicative of the current situation of trying to balance public health with other aspects of society.

Mr Vaughan said: ‘We have been living in age of contradiction since March 23 as we try and deal with the complexities of living with these conditions.’

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