Thank you, schools! 🌈

While ‘Clap for our carers’ provides an opportunity to show our appreciation for those working on the front line, we’re keen to shine a light on the widely unsung heroes supporting young people every day; here's to the school staff continuing to keep things ‘normal’ in these most unusual times! 

While there has been much discussion in the media around the subject of schools ‘reopening’, it’s important to remember that most schools remain open for those who need them most. Every day, we are inspired by news of staff going above and beyond to support keyworkers and their children. Whether delivering lessons via video call, remaining open during half terms or supporting parents with news, information and general communications, school teams are pulling together to do amazing things for their communities.  

Powering through the pandemic 

We recently spoke with James Singleterry, headteacher at Stukeley Meadows Primary School, to find out how his team is getting on under closures. Keeping things ‘normal’ for students and simple for parents has been a top priority for the school. With over 420 pupils and many parents relying on them for childcare, staff have quickly adapted to deliver lessons online and safely in classrooms. 

“It’s certainly an anxious time for the children at our school, their parents and of course our staff, many of whom are still coming into school as normal," says Mr Stukeley. "It’s very hard to try and keep things ‘normal’ for *keyworkers’* children and also for those at home, but we think it’s important that we try, and so we’ve been working incredibly hard to support those parents with how they can structure their day... We’re very aware that many of our parents are trying to work from home and look after their children, so our job at the moment is to try and help with that.” 

Stukeley Meadows Primary School is a shining example of the important role of schools in supporting local communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. With so many great ideas up their sleeves, Mr Singleterry is taking his expertise online to share his schools' experiences with a free webinar.

Join Mr Singleterry for an hour of top tips, advice and more

On Wednesday 29^th April at 2pm, ParentMail is partnering up with Mr Singleterry to deliver a free webinar tackling the complications of managing education under the new ‘normal’. Mr Singleterry will share best practice on parent engagement, tried and tested techniques on facilitating home-learning and advice on how to support schools and parents. Register your place now! 

Share and share alike 

Now is the time to pull together and share first-hand experiences for educating under lockdown; we’re keen to enable schools to feedback and support each other in any way we can. Visit our social media channels (@ParentMail) to message us or use the hashtag #EdTips4Teachers to share your advice on anything from parent engagement to home-learning techniques. 

Supporting you 🌈

Notice anything different about our logo? To show our support for school staff across the country, a rainbow now accompanies our name. Alongside the students and young people boosting morale with their brightly coloured works of art, we’re keen to do all we can to help schools keep calm and carry on. 

If your school is seeking a platform to simplify and empower your parent engagement strategy, get in touch. We've streamlined our onboarding process to keep things quick and simple, meaning you could be up and running in a matter of days. We’re waiting to support you – let's get started.