Due to numerous cases of illness in the college, classes were canceled at the Norbert School in mid-November. How the situation is now is uncertain.
Werl – headmaster Markus Reim and his deputy are both on sick leave, the school reports on request. Discussions with other headmasters give a differentiated picture: Yes, there are a number of sick students and teachers. However, Corona plays a subordinate role.
Konrad Beckmann, the deputy headmaster, currently has to do without a teacher suffering from Corona. And: six students are sick. “Corona is not an issue at the moment,” he says, more like colds and coughs. One is “a long way away from class failures or even distance classes.” Winter is yet to come, but students and teachers will probably not have to freeze again: “We now have ventilation devices for all rooms and will ventilate them a bit, but certainly not against the heaters air.” Finally, an energy crisis has been declared.
Headmaster Michael Prünte is optimistic that the school will be largely spared from Corona until Christmas. “We are vigilant, we take the pandemic seriously, but we are not headless. And we make sure that all children do their five tests a month.” At the moment there are individual classes with “herds of illness”. “In a sixth grade, about a third of the students are actually ill. But we know because the parents informed us that the RS virus is rampant there.”
Different picture
In classes 5 to 7 there is a high level of sickness overall, but those affected suffer from cold symptoms, whether caused by RSV or other viruses, he does not know. Individual teachers are also ill, but no lessons have to be canceled because of this. “We are well staffed and there is solidarity with one another,” says the headmaster.
At the Walburgis School, too, “colds are rampant,” says headmistress Andrea Humpert, while Corona is currently playing a subordinate role. Three teachers are currently sick, but not because of Corona. And many children were apparently caught by the RS virus. “A parent informed us about this. The RSV does not have to be reported, but the health department is always happy when it happens anyway.” Otherwise, the RS virus is also classified as a common cold. “Several classes are currently missing a quarter or a fifth of all students.”
Few corona cases
Once again on Corona: “There is no longer a mask requirement and the children hardly wear masks, while around half of the teachers do not do without mouth and nose protection.” Andrea Humpert is relaxed about the cold season. “We have the new extension. Ventilation is easier there. So far, however, it has not been necessary due to the mild weather.”
The headmistress of the Sälzer secondary school, Sandra Schenkel, has to do without a fifth of her teaching staff: “Two have Corona, the rest have the flu.” Three students also fell ill with Covid-19 and many had a cold. “We try to avoid class failures,” says Schenkel.