COVID-19 Reflections

Reflections from the Campus & Operations Managers

Mr Mhlanga Nombewu & Mr Graeme Broster

This year has been one for the record books in Health & Safety at schools. No-one ever imagined that the cleaning and ground staff would learn new, different skills and accept challenges which varied so greatly from their usual job descriptions. In 2020, our support staff have become the first line of defence in making the campus a safe environment for the staff and learners of Rustenburg Girls’ High School.

Preparing to return from lockdown began long before staff and learners ever thought about coming back to school – we waded through volumes of regulation and medical advice so as to formulate a strategy for managing the safety of everyone on campus. A COVID-19 Management Policy was developed, and procedures put in place to manage a variety of scenarios. Personal protective equipment had to be sourced and secured, along with crates of bleach and hand sanitiser. The campus staff came to school earlier than anyone else to clean and sanitise everything in preparation for the staff and learners returning.

Training took place on how to record temperatures and capture data on iPads, suitable cleaning protocols, and how to sanitise classrooms between lessons. We had to screen everyone who came on to campus, fog every classroom at least once a day, and make sure that we adhered to all the Education Department Standard Operating Procedures for COVID-19 containment. We had a soft start with first the administrative staff returning, then the teaching staff, followed by the Matrics’ return. As a team, we could tweak and perfect our systems and procedures in preparation for the other grades’ staggered return.

As lessons began, we were confronted with the realities of this pandemic, as learners and staff first reported exposure to cases of COVID-19 and then reports of positive tests for the disease began to appear.

The protocols we had put in place helped us to manage these occurrences, inform those who might have been exposed, act quickly to ensure that any remaining contaminations were eliminated and keep all stakeholders informed. During August we finally welcomed back the last of the learners back to school.

During these past few months of lockdown and the subsequent return to school, our Rustenburg community has showed its strength in togetherness in dealing with this virus. Whether it is by patrolling the grounds during break to ensure that leaners maintain social distancing, encouraging everyone to wash their hands frequently, or wiping down the door handles four times a day, each person has played their part. The school would like to thank the Safety Committee, the cleaning, grounds, maintenance, administrative and teaching staff who have all played a big role in making our campus a safer environment.