A city school is trying to assess how students, teachers and non-teaching staff are coping with the lockdown and if they need any help or reassurance.

Calcutta International School sent a questionnaire to its students and staff as part of the institute’s Covid Mental Wellbeing plan.

The questions are aimed at finding out about the challenges faced during the lockdown and how the respondents have been dealing with them. The school feels this would help build resilience and confidence.

“The questions will help them think not just about the challenges but focus on how to deal with them. The questions have been framed in a manner so that it brings out their resilience,” said Farishta Dastur Mukerji, psychotherapist and a school counsellor.

“The students and teachers have been asked to list their daily activities and depending on the number of hours that they are sleeping or spending online, the counsellors will be able to assess if there is any reason to be alarmed,” Mukerji said.

The teachers and the administrative staff have been asked to share their anxieties, if any, about the present situation as well as the future. The teachers have also been asked about the challenges they are facing in taking online classes.

“We have also asked teachers and senior students about any kind of physical discomfort they may be experiencing, as that could also be an indication of stress,” the counsellor said.

The school said this is not a one-time assessment but a continuous and “need-based” process.

“The data will be an indicator of the mental state of the staff and the students and help us draw up a plan,” Mukerji said.

Separate questionnaires have been sent out to 650 students from Lower Nursery to Class XII, more than 100 teachers and the 140-odd non-teaching staff. Students till Class III will fill in the form with the help of parents.

The school has been checking on its support staff since the start of the lockdown.

“This is a unique situation and there is so much uncertainty, including financial worries, that we felt the need to reach out,” said Ayan Pal, the chief executive officer of the school.