From Monday, 7 September, schools in the Bucha community are changing how lessons are organised because of intensified Russian shelling. Pupils in years 1 to 5 will attend every day, while years 6 to 11 move to a mixed system: a week at school, a week online.

The Bucha city council announced the change.

Year 5 pupils of Bucha Lyceum No. 9 — from Monday they still attend every dayФото: Бучанський ліцей №9
Year 5 pupils of Bucha Lyceum No. 9 — from Monday they still attend every day

The timetable may differ from school to school depending on what each building allows. In some schools only years 1 to 4 will attend in person, and in a few of them the graduating years 9 and 11 will join.

Head teachers will inform parents and pupils about the exact arrangements separately. The regime will stay in force as long as the current intensity of shelling continues.

Year 9 pupils at the blackboard: some schools will keep the graduating years in classФото: Бучанський ліцей №9
Year 9 pupils at the blackboard: some schools will keep the graduating years in class

Even during the war children must receive knowledge, talk with their peers and stay in a living school environment. So we keep in-person learning as far as the security situation allows.

Bucha city council

The decision came a few days after the community started looking for a new format of learning and collecting parents’ views.

Neighbouring Irpin took a similar step earlier: there the primary classes were the ones kept in the classroom, going down to the shelter with their teacher during alerts.

Primary pupils at Bucha Lyceum No. 9 during the first lesson of the school yearPhoto: Bucha Lyceum No. 9
Primary pupils at Bucha Lyceum No. 9 during the first lesson of the school year
Children work at the blackboard during a lesson on the language of dignityPhoto: Bucha Lyceum No. 9
Children work at the blackboard during a lesson on the language of dignity
Ninth-graders with their class teacher in the yard of Lyceum No. 9Photo: Bucha Lyceum No. 9
Ninth-graders with their class teacher in the yard of Lyceum No. 9
Fifth-graders by the blackboard reading "Hello, 5th grade"Photo: Bucha Lyceum No. 9
Fifth-graders by the blackboard reading "Hello, 5th grade"
A fifth-grade class with their teacher in the schoolyard on the first day of classesPhoto: Bucha Lyceum No. 9
A fifth-grade class with their teacher in the schoolyard on the first day of classes
The first lesson in a fifth-grade classroom at Lyceum No. 9Photo: Bucha Lyceum No. 9
The first lesson in a fifth-grade classroom at Lyceum No. 9

As a reminder, 1 September in the Bucha community passed without assemblies.