A school has been so badly hit by Covid-19 that 50 staff members and 30 pupils have caught the bug and five have been unable to return to work.
One staff member of Ysgol Y Deri special school in Wales was even treated in intensive care as her conditions became so serious.
Headteacher Chris Britten, said he had found the ordeal "awful" and "devastating" as staff battled to keep the school open for its vulnerable pupils, reports Wales Online.
Ysgol Y Deri had suffered no coronavirus cases until November - but when it finally hit, it swept through the school with a vengance.
At the same time, the school was faced with coming to terms with the death of a pupil, unrelated to Covid.
Mr Britten said: “At times it has been awful. Devastating. I am not alone, heads feel deeply responsible for safety and at times it has been grim.
“Days when you get to school and put on PPE... It has been emotionally draining and mentally hard and in the middle of all this we lost a pupil, it was not Covid but it was unexpected.
“It’s been the worst year of my professional life. There were times when it was unrelenting."
Mr Britten said five of the 50 staff who caught the virus had not yet been able to return and one was so ill she was treated in intensive care.
“A couple of them have been very ill, he said. "One was in intensive care but she made a good recovery and is supporting online work now.”
Mr Britten said all headteachers felt responsible for the safety of staff and pupils in the pandemic.
As well as the 50 staff around 30 of the school’s 330 pupils, some of whom have profound physical and educational needs, also had coronavirus.
Like all special schools Ysgol Y Deri, in Penarth, has been allowed to stay open in the current lockdown and Mr Britten estimates around a quarter of pupils are coming in. But this has meant working hard to keep everyone safe.
As the coronavirus second wave grew quickly in November, medical grade masks were supplied to all staff and he said since then there have been no cases. All staff have now been vaccinated, because they are entitled to jabs as teachers in a special school, and systems are in place for all staff to have lateral flow tests every week.
With these measures in place Mr Britten hopes more children can come back after half term and all by Easter if everything goes well.
“All our staff have had the vaccine now. Our view now is that by half term we will be three weeks in (from vaccination) and we are setting up lateral flow testing in the hall for all staff to be tested weekly," he said.
“After half term we are thinking of bringing in all children, vulnerable children plus half the school each week. There will be variation in that.
“I would like to be fully back by Easter. It should be safe for staff.
“I am writing to parents this weekend to tell them we are hoping to get everyone back in after half term.
“It’s such a social place normally and the children who are in are so happy to be in.”
He said the situation changed when staff got better PPE and the vaccine and testing would add to reducing any risk.
“Since we moved to medical-grade masks at the start of November we have had no transmissions within the school.
“Most of our parents are happy for there children to come in, but some not and it is also about staff feeling safe.
“We think with vaccination, PPE and lateral flow testing that will make it safe
“There’s nothing we do that a care home doesn’t do. We provide intimate care and cannot socially distance from our pupils and they come in and out whereas those in a care home don’t.
“That means all our staff have been vaccinated because even the administration staff support children and our site staff deal with things like sewage.”
Mr Britten does not want to return to the dark days of the end of last term, or last summer at the start of the pandemic.
At that time the school also ran as a hub for pupils from other special schools.
Things were so uncertain and busy that the school stayed open for 17 weeks straight through Easter and half term to the end of the summer term.
During that time staff worked especially long hours.
Mr Britten added: “There were times in the first lockdown when we worked 12 hours a day seven days a week. One week I did 96 hours in the hub. This as been really hard for staff and pupils.”
The headteacher claimed the vaccine roll out has not been consistent in special schools across Wales, even though the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises UK health departments on immunisation, ruled at the start of the month that special school staff providing intimate care should be grouped with care workers and get priority for the vaccine.
Mr Britten has written to parents explaining how he hopes to get more children back in from February 22.
"We understand how difficult these current times are and therefore we want to reassure you that we are doing our best to plan a way forward and to look at how we can welcome more of our pupils back in to Ysgol Y Deri," he has told them.
