As part of our new feature, we are talking with members of the Outwood Family and finding out how life has changed for them since the wider reopening of the primary academies.

This time we chat with Emma Abbott, Principal at Outwood Primary Academy Kirkhamgate. 

Read on to see how Emma and the team at OPA Kirkhamgate dealt with the wider reopening of the academy to children.

[Outwood.com] Hi Emma, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. We appreciate you’re busy, so let’s get to it! Things have been turned upside down recently, for reasons we are all too aware of. So, as we begin to enter a new ‘normal’, how were you feeling prior to the academy reopening?

“Hello! It’s a pleasure to take part, thank you for asking me to be involved. Well, as plans progressed during the build up, I became confident that thorough strategies and protocols were being put in place at Trust level which made me feel positive about the wider reopening. 

“I knew that as long as we followed these plans and were careful in our execution of them at the local level, then everything was ensured, as best as it could be, that the academy was well prepared to open.”

The positive value of being part of a Trust seems to be on show there then. That you had that wider support network to help with the wider reopening. What would you say was the most challenging aspect of the process then?

“I think that because we are a small school with a small staff, which was understandably reduced further by staff illness and shielding, the biggest challenge was, and still is, planning the deployment of staff to ensure the guidance continues to be met in terms of teaching in small bubbles.”

It must be a difficult balancing act to get it right, but one you seem to be mastering so far. So to finish this quick chat, would what you say has been the most surprising aspect of this process for you?

“Not so much surprising, but the positivity of both the staff and the children has been absolutely brilliant. 

“Staff are teaching year groups they may not have taught previously and are doing so with such enthusiasm and dedication, and the children have adapted to the 'new normal' brilliantly and are proving themselves to be happy, resilient learners.

“It is inspiring to be truthful with you.”

What an incredibly positive note to end on. Thank you for your time, Emma.