Weekly meeting

Fifteen members attended this evening's meeting, held via Zoom, at which we welcomed our guest speaker, the Principal of Wayland Academy, Glen Allott.

Glen reminded us that his first visit to the Rotary Club was 9 years ago, when he accompanied the winner of our technology competition. Since then he has visited us at two different venues, and now of course, via Zoom.

Glen gave us a detailed update of the school's progress in recent months. A major change occurred in April in that the Academy became part of the Inspiration Trust, which represents a number of high-achieving schools in Norfolk and Suffolk. Unfortunately, this important event occurred one week before the country went into lockdown, and therefore passed somewhat under the radar.

The Academy has been open for much of the summer, with about 100 pupils attending, representing families of key workers. The school opened for the first time since April this week to all pupils, and Glen gave us an insight into the many measures that have been taken to keep staff and children safe. These include social distancing of students within bubbles and zones, with teachers moving from class to class rather than pupils, and the challenge of keeping equipment and furniture clean before a different group of pupils can use them.

They have established plans in the event of another lockdown, in that the entire curriculum can now be reproduced online if necessary, and 100 laptops with dongles have been purchased to assist pupils who do not have online access at home. Advanced Track and Trace mechanisms are in place as are arrangements for Covid 19 testing. As of today, nobody at the school has tested positive yet.

With regard to the Academy's relationship with Rotary, Glen was keen that we continue with our competitions, as winning a Rotary competition carries additional prestige for pupils. The club would like to explore further ways that we could support the education of Academy students, and a meeting at the school is planned for early October.

President Mike thanked Glen for finding time to speak to us, and for giving such an upbeat message about how the Academy is coping in the difficult times we face today.