Communication from the school director provides basic information how will school work from 03.09.2020. 

School year 2020-2021

Dear parents,

I hope that you were able to make the most of the holiday period, knowing that the existing constraints did not necessarily facilitate the situation.

It gives me great pleasure to inform you already at this stage that we will be happy to welcome all our students on site again, despite some obvious restrictions.

The 2019-2020 school year was particularly intense and took place in an unprecedented way. We, the directors of the two European Schools in Luxembourg, together with our staff, have therefore focused and combined our efforts already before and especially also during the school holidays to work on different scenarios. At the same time, we conducted an intensive dialogue with the competent authorities at national level and were reassured by their approaches and the studies they carried out analysing and anticipating developments in a global manner. We therefore welcome the results of the research carried out under their authority and the conclusion that schools are not an environment in which the virus is spreading strongly. This conclusion is not only reassuring, but also allows us to envisage a smooth resumption of school activities.

The decision

The school year 2020/2021 will follow the rhythm and modalities of teaching in the European Schools, while preserving its diversity and wide range of subjects. Classes will take place on site according to the usual timetables and schedules, which will encourage close exchanges between pupils and teachers and provide a stable environment. This opening also follows the recommendations of the competent national authorities to reopen all schools with a complete timetable and full classes.However, we will always have to remain attentive to the health and safety of our students and staff, and not ignore the current health crisis. To this end, we have decided that:

• The continuous wearing of masks by our students and staff in the Primary and Secondary cycles will remain compulsory in our schools, throughout classroom teaching. This obligation will not apply to pupils in the Nursery cycle, in accordance with national guidelines.
• The wearing of double-layer masks (surgical or textile masks) will be compulsory for the staff of our school.
• Pupils will be made aware of the hygiene rules in force (washing hands, greeting without touching, etc.) and the school staff will ensure that these rules are respected and applied on a daily basis. Cleaning services will be adapted to specific needs, as it was already the case in May/June 2020.
• Catering (including hot meals) will be offered to pupils, the offer being adapted so as to allow the necessary sanitary measures to be taken. ES Lux II has put together a working group with Eurest and also including APEEEL2 to define how the canteen service will be provided taking in consideration precautions necessary due to the Covid situation. Detailed information of the outcome of the work of the WG will be communicated in the coming days.
• Parents are not admitted inside the school buildings. We are still investigating if an exception will be made for parents at Nursery and will come back to concerned parents with clarifying information in the coming days. The specific entry and exit procedures in place for each cycle will be communicated to you separately by the deputy directors of the cycles concerned.
• The usual timetables will be followed, but if necessary the school might have to make adjustments on very short notice.
• Sports lessons, including swimming lessons, can be resumed as soon as precise instructions have been issued by the competent authorities and implemented at our School. We estimate that this will be the case from the 2nd week of lessons.
• Measures to avoid gatherings of pupils in common areas such as corridors will be put in place.
• All compulsory and optional school trips for the 1st semester of the school year 2020/2021 (i.e. until the Carnival holidays) are cancelled. The organisation of one or more additional day trips may be considered after a thorough risk analysis by concerned teacher sand our Health and Security Officer. A re-evaluation of the situation for the 2nd semester will be made in autumn of 2020.
• As always, the transport of the students will be the responsibility of the transporters(private or municipal) who will have to ensure the respect of the hygienic rules in force at the national level. At the present time, there are no restrictions in terms of timetables or routes foreseen

Request from school director

At the same time, we count on the support of our entire school community and a fruitful collaboration with you. Therefore, we invite you to respect the following:

• Children who are ill or suspected of being ill shall not be brought to school. If your child shows signs of illness or fever, he or she will be isolated and you will be called to come and collect him or her immediately. Just as during confinement, our infirmaries will be closed for any sores so that real emergencies can be managed and cross-contamination can be avoided.
• Attendance at school is compulsory for pupils, except (where applicable) for vulnerable pupils on presentation of a medical certificate issued by a local doctor (see also our Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQ”) on our website.
• Make sure that from the first day of school your child wears a personal mask (surgical, textile, “buff” type, etc.) on the way to and from school and in all school areas. Don’t forget to provide him/her with a spare mask. On the first days of school, the school will provide each student with two ” buff ” type masks, supplied by the Ministry of Education (except for Primary students who have already received their own masks in May and June 2020).
• Make sure your children understand why they are required to wear masks even in class and that they respect barrier gestures.Attend the various screening tests organised at national level and cooperate with the school and national authorities.
• Favour e-mail communication with the school and request appointments if necessary. No one will be admitted to the school without proof of an appointment.

CPE

We also work closely with the CPE (“Centre d’études et de loisirs du Centre Polyvalent de l’enfance interinstitutionnel de Bertrange/Mamer”). The CPE will communicate separately on the arrangements made.

We will soon update our list of frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) on our website.

We must remain aware that all decisions taken by the Luxembourg government as well as by the directors of our two Schools can at any time be adapted to the evolution of the national and/or international health situation and that a modification of the arrangements will always remain possible. This also includes the decisions of the Office of the Secretary General of the European Schools and the Board of Governors.

I wish you a good start to the new school year 2020/2021.

Stay healthy!

Cordial greetings,

Per FRITHIOFSON

Original document is available here.