A headteacher says he expects it to be a difficult transition back to class for secondary school pupils relying on public transport.

Year groups 10 and 12 will be able to return to the The Leigh UTC in Dartford from next Monday, as part of the government's phased reopening plan.

Principal Steve Leahey says the school has been working hard to put in place measures to ensure this runs as smoothly as possible.

A significant part of this is ensuring the orderly functioning of public transport which many of the pupils at Leigh UTC rely on.

He told Km-fm: "We don't have our own unique school bus we use for our students but where we are based in Dartford we make use of the Fastrack bus service for students.

"We have been speaking to them about what the maximum number of people on a bus at any one time is."

The school has sent out questionnaires to all parents in the last few weeks asking them what method of transport their child will be using so they can gauge the numbers.

"We've also really said all the way along if at all possible, other forms of transport would be preferred," he added.

This includes encouraging students to cycle into school or choose other options where possible.

Mr Leahey said older students post-16 who come from a "wider catchment area" were more likely to be travelling by public transport into the school from further afield.

"People join the sixth form from maybe schools which were further away and therefore they may be reliant on either a train and bus service and so for them it is going to be a difficult transition back into the school place."

Those planning to take the bus or train are being reminded to wear suitable face coverings which will be mandatory on all forms of transport from next week.

Mr Leahey said: "One of the things we wanted to ensure was that we re-assure families and students in particular coming in that they wear suitable face coverings if they use public transport as recommended."

Pupils can also expect the school day to look quite different as teachers attempt to stagger entry to avoid too many people coming in or out at of the campus at any one time.

Efforts have been made to limit the number of opportunities where "cross contamination" can take place on contact surfaces.

Throughout the day pupils will remain in their "bubbles" of no more than 15 students.

They have each been given dedicated toilets to use and spaces to have break and lunch as part of this.

Mr Leahey said: "They will have their breaks, lunch and social time hopefully outside if the weather is nice but all of that will be done in small groups."

The classroom will be laid out to ensure a two metre distance between the teacher and the class at all times and students will learn a different subject in either the morning or the afternoon.

"We want to run the school on a skeleton staff," he said. "We want to ensure that we don't have large numbers of staff in when they are not required."

He hastened to add students will get a similar structure in terms of what they are learning with staff delivering content from the curriculum as opposed to catching up on items tutored at home.

The head also recognised there were likely to be high levels of absences as fears remain over the safety of returning.

"We recognised there's always going to be a number of students and parents who will be anxious about returning," he said.

"What we have seen in the primary sector is it ranges anywhere between 40 and 70% and I believe from early indications this number has gone up slightly.

"I think we will be in a similar situation this time next Monday."

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