The school buses have arrived, and the classrooms have been rearranged: one school in Co Longford has reopened after closing nearly six months ago.

Moyne Community School is among the first secondary schools in the country welcoming students back, with a staggered opening for different classes over the course of the week.

Principal Des Cullen spoke to Henry McKean for Newstalk Breakfast.

The school buses have arrived. It’s back to school for the new term. Join us in rural Longford now @NewstalkFM @BreakfastNT #BackToSchool @moynecs pic.twitter.com/lh3XAcjQ1w

— Henry McKean (@HenryMcKean) August 26, 2020

Mr Cullen said: "It's been a long-time. I think it has about 167 days since we were asked to close down, in the expectation of maybe a couple of weeks.

"This morning we have our first years coming back. It's really exciting.

"It's a big task, and it's daunting because it will be a new experience for how we're doing things. But I think it's great we're opening again.

"Obviously all students will be wearing face masks. We've put in a huge amount of effort of trying to reorganise the school. Students will be in their base classes rather than moving around to teachers."

'New way of doing things'

One way systems are in place in the school, while the size of classes have also been re-imagined with maximum capacity and social distancing in mind.

Mr Cullen said staff will likely address the new students in their four individual class groups rather than as one big assembly group.

He explained: "Ideally you'd love to be able to meet them all together - for them it's new, and a lot of them come from a lot of feeder schools. We might have 15-20 feeder schools each year, so it's important that the kids get to know each other.

"I'll get around to every class over the course of the morning: we'll try to get them ready for the new rules they'll have to follow, and the new way of doing things."

Meanwhile, there's a mix of nervousness and excitement among parents and students about the start of the new school year.

One parent explained: "I'm apprehensive about the new changes that are going to be there.

"But I think it's good for them to get back to a routine again, and see their friends... it's a new normal, I suppose."