Incredible response from North East Schools
We know that the last few weeks have been an immense and unprecedented challenge for school leaders and all school staff, and that you are facing even greater challenges and uncertainty in the weeks and months to come. Amidst all of the uncertainty, however, one thing has been completely clear from the beginning: the response of North East schools has been simply incredible.
In the face of this escalating crisis, our schools have (as ever) stepped up to the plate and met these challenges head on. As this crisis has unfolded, stories have been flooding in from across the region of the amazing response of our schools to an event so completely unpredicted that no contingency plan could ever have been expected to include it.
Across our region, schools have maintained and strengthened their role as hubs of community support, institutions that are always there for families in need, especially the most vulnerable. Stories abound of our school staff, facilities and catering, teaching assistants, administrative, teachers and leaders out in their communities, regardless of the personal risks, delivering meals to vulnerable children; of schools remaining ‘open as usual’ and determined to ensure that those children in their charge are safe and well cared for; and school communities rallying together to help each other get through these tough times.
Our school staff are showing their dedication, supporting the most vulnerable students, as well as remotely supporting their students and their families who are at home. This support is vital to ensure that the nation’s ‘key workers’ in the emergency services as well as supermarket staff, delivery drivers, other teachers – all people on the front line, can carry out their roles, by providing safe environments for children who need it; and by supporting families who were already struggling and have been hit even harder by the current situation.
The region’s school leaders have been simply superb and, as ever, far too modest. As one of you put it “this has just been a case of leaders setting a good example and practicing what we preach – no one wanted to step away from the frontline.” “We are all doing ok, we are upbeat, scared at times but fleetingly. Mostly we want to ensure at the end of this we have a work force who knew leadership led a steady ship and didn’t flinch when making tough decisions. We will be stronger than ever moving forward.”
The response has been awe inspiring. Our school staff are all ‘key workers’, in every sense of the word, and the amazing dedication that they have shown as this crisis has developed deserves to be recognised. We at Schools North East are determined to ensure that they are. We want to share these incredible stories, of schools whose ‘ordinary days’ are simply extraordinary.
Please help us to celebrate the dedication of all our incredible school staff by sending us your stories. Tell us about the ‘ordinary days’ in your school and community and how your colleagues and peers have responded, and we will broadcast them far and wide. Everyone in the region and across the country should hear them.
And finally, can I give everyone working in our schools the sincerest thanks of all of the staff at Schools North East. We are extremely proud to belong to such a selfless and brave community. And these thanks are not just from us, here are just a few of the thoughts from the communities that you serve, showing how much your tireless efforts mean to them:
‘I really appreciate your thoughtfulness, keeping us and our families safe, it really means a lot’
‘Thank you for continuing to protect us all’
‘Just wanted to say a big big thank you’.
Share your story with us – let us know what your school is doing.
Chris Zarraga
Director, Schools North East