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Appearances from Gavin Williamson and Amanda Spielman at the Education Select Committee this week have prompted conversations around prioritising a return to school for those children who have been at home.

Whilst there has been growing speculation around how and when schools will extend their opening (never actually having been closed!), senior figures this week seemed to place the return to school at the forefront of conversations around Coronavirus and the Education Sector.

Schools across the North East are seeing some incredible messages of thanks and appreciation from parents for the support that they have provided during the ongoing crisis, as well as an increase in respect generally for the region’s teaching profession.

Thank you to North East Schools for donating and making PPE

On 2nd April the Government issued a plea to everyone to help our National Health Service by donating Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) due to there being a major shortage during the fight against Covid-19. In the North-East, schools have stepped up once again calling on all faculties to make or provide any PPE which may be useful. Schools North East would like to thank all the schools who have gone the extra mile to donate to their local hospitals, care homes, prisons as well as many more institutions who require PPE seeing these stories make us proud of our schools.

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The Education Village Academy Trust have implemented a series of changes in their way of working following school closures to ensure that students have access to a fair education.

Walbottle Campus staff have come together with a ‘great team approach’ regardless of whether they are working from home or in school according to Director of Support, Tracey Gray.

Hetton Lyons Primary and Nursery School stress the importance of routine to support vulnerable students and children of key workers who are still in school, as well as easing worries from parents.

Hurworth School and Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust (formerly Carmel Education Trust) in Darlington have come together to coordinate donations of goggles and disposable gloves to their local hospitals, helping to supply much needed resources for the NHS.

Earlier this week the Department for Education released plans to offer supermarket vouchers where schools are unable to offer their standard Free School Meal (FSM) provision.

However, the guidance released did not cover provision of FSM over the upcoming Easter holiday period, despite many schools remaining open for vulnerable students or children of key workers, leaving schools to pick up the additional costs. While schools would not typically offer FSM over Easter, the current circumstances mean many families are facing increased financial difficulty, with many businesses closed and staff left without income.

Children from Valour Multi Academy Trust Schools have used their arts and crafts skills to contribute to keeping people’s morale up.

The staff at Northern Saints Catholic Education Trust have moved their work to Microsoft Teams after initiating a business continuity plan to ensure effective communication amongst staff.

Sandhill View Academy are introducing new measures to their normal way of working in order to make their working day easier, after the announcement that schools will be closing .

Students from Chillingham Road Primary School were filmed singing on school grounds the day before school closures as a way of showing their support for NHS workers.