ISL; Credit: Jazmin Campbell

Whilst Luxembourg's public schools will only reopen after the summer holidays next Tuesday 15 September, the 2020-21 academic year is already underway at the International School of Luxembourg (ISL) and St George's International School Luxembourg.

ISL

The ISL reopened its doors to all students on Thursday 27 August 2020. This year, the school has 1,354 attending students, of which 198 are new students. 77 new students joined the Maternelle (PS, K1 and K2), bringing the total number of enrolled students at this stage to 169; of the 420 students attending Primary (GR1 - GR5), 63 are new students; and Secondary (GR6 - GR12) counts 765 enrolled students this year, including 58 new students.

The ISL currently counts 296 total staff members, with 126 working in the Upper School, 122 in the Lower School and 48 in the Central Administration. The school confirmed that it had not hired any new staff due to the COVID-19-related measures, although there is always a permanent team of nurses available on site.

The school reported last week that five of its students had tested positive for coronavirus since the start of the new school year, which in turn led to 58 students being sent home on Friday 28 August. However, the ISL assured that it immediately informed staff and students who had been in close contact with the infected students. The school has also implemented various health and safety measures in the context of the pandemic. These include social distancing and mask wearing, which is compulsory for students in grade 1 and above (except when permission is granted by a teacher when sitting in a classroom). The school purchased masks, disinfectant, thermometers, disposable gloves and thermal cameras, among other items, ahead of the new school year.

St George's

Yesterday, Monday 7 September 2020, saw all year groups return to St George's, thus marking the first time they have all been back together at the same time since 13 March 2020. The school opened its doors to 851 students (approximately 20 more than last year) and 184 members of staff. 83 new students joined Primary, 61 of which are in the Early Years Foundation stage. In addition, 19 new secondary students joined, making the Secondary school the biggest it has ever been with a total of 320 students and 49 members of staff.

The school currently counts approximately 99 primary staff members and 36 members of the administration team. In total, 29 new members of staff joined in September 2020; this increase represents the higher uptake of students.

St George's has put in place various health and safety precautions in order to ensure each student's safe return to school. This includes temperature checks, compulsory mask wearing for all students from year 2 onward (unless instructed otherwise) and the availability of hand sanitisers and hand washing facilities at the entrance to school buildings.