- The nursery school on Rue Surmelin, in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, reopened its doors this Thursday morning, and 20 Minutes was on site.
- New traffic rules in the premises, separate activities, each with their own little bike ... The school had to adapt to accommodate the students.
- A positive recovery for the school principal, Charlie Jegondayn, according to whom "the weeks spent away from the school have created damage".
"If I touched Mahaut's mask, am I supposed to take off the gloves or not?" " The doors of the nursery school on Rue Surmelin, in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, have been open for barely five minutes, but the eyes of a teacher are already screaming for help. The large table just behind it which recalls the basic rules with the red marker has not gone into this level of detail. So go for a new pair of plastic gloves, hoping the planet will forgive her if she sees that. At least the stewardship followed. Gloves, surgical masks and hydroalcoholic gel delivered at the beginning of the week, enough to see coming a few days.
A handful of pupils drop by drop, twenty in all, five per class after a decision by the district inspector, who has come to pass a head. "It was important to be there to support the teachers, they did a wonderful job in adapting the school to the health protocol," breathes Véronique Pipolo, who nevertheless wants to be realistic. Now we will see in function, if a child has to get up in class, he will get up, they are impulsive at that age ”.
“The teachers have done a wonderful job of adapting”
For the moment, the present obediently occupy the place assigned to them on benches at the entrance. Green sticky note for Maceo, a sticky stick, then Red sticky stick for Maya. It should be noted here that everyone has been brave. No crying or so little, neither from one nor from the other. Adèle's mother does not seem to worry: “I was rather reassured by all of the new instructions. And then it allows me to work more calmly. ”
Mathilde's father leaves a tunnel of two months of partial unemployment to take care of his daughters 24 hours a day. He does not deny "some relief". We don't judge. We too have counted the days. His wife working in the hospital, Mathilde is therefore one of the children of priority staff (carers, teachers, nursery staff, certain categories of traders), like the overwhelming majority of those who are welcomed this Thursday, all levels combined.
We follow in the footsteps of the almost twin sisters Aïcha and Marianne, Maya and Elios. Céline, their mistress in small section, teaches them the new traffic rules on the way. Arrows taped to the floor, others to the wall ... The classroom seems to resemble any pre-Covid classroom for an untrained eye.
However, Céline spent a lot of time tidying up, condemning, delimiting, arranging. Everyone has their own house and their own activities at a distance of several meters, so as not to mix or mix toys. Positioned in the establishment since 2014, the teacher surely did not think of starting a day one day with the notions of barrier gestures and social distancing. Most children remain silent until the Gipsy spider chews the air up a bit. Nobody takes out their nonsense periscope yet, but it's better.
"We organized to reach half of the dropout students"
“I won't have any specific requirements on the program. We have to let them land, let them be happy with their day, that will already be it. For some, I had not heard from all the confinement despite the emails, she said, replacing Marianne's painting blouse. But what do you want, the mother has four children in different classes… ”. The famous dropouts, whom Jean-Marie Blanquer has promised to seek with teeth, to respond to all those who believe that the reopening of schools obeys only economic imperatives. At the Surmelin school, Charlie Jegonday, the principal, identified 25 of the 141 students enrolled. Many live across the road in a social hotel that accommodates families of migrants. Parents do not speak French often, and children who have just arrived have been slowed down in their learning by confinement.
“For these families with whom it is not always easy to communicate, there are very strong educational challenges, especially among those who must return to CP next year, explains Charlie Jegonday. Weeks away from the establishment cause damage. Some refused to put their children back in school, but we have organized to try to reach half of them, who will come every other week. It is not huge, but we must first welcome the priority children. If we managed to increase the gauge a little in June, let's go to 30 students, we could respond a little better to this social objective ”. This opening of the doors, even at a minimum, still allows "to send a positive message to parents," said the young director.
"I can't take him in my arms, it's heartbreaking"
An opinion not necessarily shared by its teams. In the schoolyard, Céline tells us that she does not understand why the government did not leave the children at home until September. Less compared to health risk than compared to teaching constraints. “The rules of prudence are legitimate, of course, but nursery school is about learning to live in a community. Children feed on interactions, they need them, and there, they are ordered not to touch each other, ”she says with a touch of spite.
Together with her colleagues, she spent time condemning the two playgrounds in the yard with white and red tape. Here, no big controversial squares like in Tourcoing to prevent schoolchildren from moving too much, but a bicycle labeled for each one. The dozen children can almost snort like old times. A white line drawn with chalk is supposed to constitute a separation between the two groups that came out at the same time, the big ones and the small ones.
It was enough to make them want to go to the other side, of course. Suddenly a fall in the back. Elios' scooter has failed. Céline takes a step towards him before holding back. "There, I can't take him in my arms to console him, it's heartbreaking". Not to say frustrating. A few minutes later, when everyone has resumed the path "to his little house" after a compulsory hand wash, Maya takes his mistress by feelings, in a small choupinette voice to crack even a Jean-Pierre Bacri grumpy. "Céline, I can't cut it out, you can help me, please, please." The teacher tries to show her from afar, but Maya pulls out the absolute weapon, the eyes of Shrek's cat. So Céline gives in. A little frost on her hands, then she guides the girl's hand. We promise, we didn't see anything.
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Deconfinement: Will students on the verge of dropping out of school return to class?
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Coronavirus: Hand washing, canteen, prohibited games… What rules will be applied in schools?
- Jean-Michel Blanquer
- Society
- Nursery school
- Coronavirus
- Education