De volta à escola após quarentena: alunos na Holanda ganham cabines individuais:código lampions bet

The story…

Back to school (in the Netherlands)

Learn language related to…

protection from infection

Need-to-know language

scrub – rub hard to make something clean

shields – (here) screens used to stop infection spreading from one person to another

visors – pieces of plastic that cover your face

monitoring – regularly checking something

Answer this…

How many new rules has the school in this report introduced?

Watch the video online: https://bbc.in/2ZYDjTA

Transcript

Can you guess what it is yet? Six months ago, we'd never heard of it.

Now, six-year-olds can sketch coronavirus molecules from memory.

"Little bacteria bugs that make you sick. That's corona."

"I know about it from the news, my girlfriends and the teacher."

For these pupils at Springboard Primary [in The Netherlands], going back to school comes with five new rules.

Only pupils and teachers are allowed inside. Scrub every time you enter the building - there's one of these pumps at every entrance.

Use shields designed to reduce the spread of germs.

Year groups must attend on different days. In some schools, they've split the classes to reduce the number of children in the building.

Older pupils - from age six - must stay 1.5 metres away from their teachers. These are lessons they hope will save lives.

For the younger ones, practically nothing's changed. But teachers like Miss Daisy are working behind the scenes.

Miss Daisy, teacher, Springboard Primary

I think it's very important for the children that everything is as normal as possible. We have some new things, new rules into [at] the schools, but the most important [thing] is that they're happy and they get comfort and they can be a child.

This feels unusually relaxed. Especially compared to elsewhere in Europe - in Belgium, where the teachers are wearing visors, in Denmark where the children can't hug their best friends. But here in the Netherlands, they believe the benefits of giving children this freedom outweigh the risks.

At least ninety-nine Dutch primary school teachers have tested positive for Covid-19 so far this month. They're still monitoring the infection rates.

Every one of these pupils told us they're happy to be back in class - something to celebrate. They're starting to find a way to live and learn through the pandemic.

Did you get it?

How many new rules has the school in this report introduced?

Springboard Primary has introduced five new rules.