An afternoon tea to celebrate the ‘amazing’ efforts of teachers and staff who helped pupils through England’s lockdowns was organised by parents of a Portishead school.
Parents of children at St Peter’s Primary School, in Hallett’s Way, said teachers ‘went above and beyond their job descriptions’ to provide ‘detailed and personalised’ online learning during lockdowns, while also supporting those of keyworkers on-site.
Almost 100 members of staff attended the tea party at the school grounds on May 27. The colleagues sat in year group bubbles outside, and were also offered a goodie bag filled with cakes and individual bottles of bubbly to enjoy.
Dee Adam, the mother of an ‘energetic 10-year-old' at St Peter’s, said she and her husband struggled to work and support their son while homeschooling during lockdown. She said it was the ‘dedication and unceasing patience’ of the teachers and their supporting staff that ‘really got him through’.
Dee said: “When chatting with other parents, we felt that there must be some way to demonstrate our appreciation for the teachers and staff at St Peter’s. Keeping a smile on the kids’ faces as well as keeping them on-track; we needed to do something to thank them and show them that they are really valued in our community.
“In past couple of months, we have also been fundraising across the whole parent community and have collected more than £1,100 for the school. A local café, Mokoko Coffee and Bakery in The Marina, kindly donated 300 cakes and cookies for the tea party, and we had discount from the local supermarket for bottles of bubbly and wine for the staff in their pre-packaged goodie bags.
“We also collected messages from the parents to create a permanent thanks board in tribute to the teachers as a keepsake for the school, which was also unveiled alongside the donation presented on the day.
“It couldn’t have been done without everyone’s support, and we had a really positive reaction from the school. Headteacher, Sharon Roberts, said she was really proud of the school team, and said never a day went by without a good atmosphere, adding that the teachers were so positive when supporting the students.
“The teachers were touched by the messages of thanks and were very grateful.”
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