A PREPARATORY school in Denbigh has received high praise for being the only one in North Wales to maintain a full day of online classes through lockdown.

Pupils at Myddelton College – just like their senior school counterparts – have logged on to roll call and had a full series of virtual lessons every day since lockdown started and schools closed in March.

The school has been operating remote lessons since lockdown began in March and each morning pupils log on to classes.

It’s helping them beat the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic which has meant that teachers and pupils have to stay apart to prevent infection but at Myddelton even junior school pupils use the Microsoft Office 365 system so they have been able to adjust.

Helen Roberts, from Lixwm, near Holywell, whose daughter, Jessica, is in year five, said: “I’ve been really delighted with the way online schooling has worked out. It’s been seamless between the children working in the classroom and working from home.

“I know of other schools where home schooling hasn’t gone well and that must be so difficult with parents trying to juggle working from home too, but I can’t fault Myddelton College and that applies to the senior school as well where my son, Lewis, is in year eight.

“It’s now the summer holidays and Jessica is already saying that she can’t wait to get back into the classroom.”

Head of Preparatory School Katie Gresley-Jones, from Rhuallt, said: “There has been very little disruption and it’s been quite extraordinary how smooth the transition has been.

“We’ve been able to continue with the full curriculum and I believe we’re the only prep school in North Wales that have been able to do that and we haven’t had to rely on parents trying to teach.

“Many schools have tried this in lockdown but because our use of online systems was already embedded it was so much easier for the pupils because it was already the norm.

“We appreciate the importance of handwriting. We have adopted a blended approach and our pupils still use pens, pencils and exercise books as well learning how to type.”

The Preparatory School takes a holistic approach to teaching with subjects taught across the age groups by themes and at Myddelton College prep school it also includes Learning Through The Outdoors (LTTO), using the natural world as a classroom.

Myddelton College Headmaster Andrew Allman has seen the benefits of the prep school being integrated with the senior school and he said: “Our blended approach to education means that students from Preparatory School to Sixth Form can access lessons through Microsoft OneNote so the teacher can fully engage with pupils remotely.

“I believe a number of schools have been struggling to get to grips with the system but all our staff and pupils are familiar with it and it has worked absolutely as it is designed to do.”