Lockdown Survival Kits from Greenbank Preparatory School
Greenbank Preparatory School and Day Nursery prides itself in its sense of community. Success is celebrated together, and support is there for when things are tough.
With most families staying home, Greenbank Prep’s staff wanted to provide something real and tangible for their pupils and families to show how much they care.
Media manager at the school, and former parent, Lyndsey Aizlewood, came up with the idea of sending out “lockdown survival packs”. The packs included playing cards, tea bags, marbles, smarties, paperclips and other objects. Each pack also had a list in it, explaining in a funny and touching way the meaning of each object. For instance playing cards, according to the list, were put in the packs to “help children ‘deal’ with the challenges”.
Mrs Aizlewood said: “We always talk about Greenbank as a team, a community and as a family. During lockdown, we needed to make sure we kept our team spirit up and our family together. With this in mind, I wanted to send our parents a gift for all the family. It had to have meaning, would bring them together, warm their hearts, show that we care and was a little bit of fun.”
She thought that the survival packs would be the perfect way to do this. “Receiving a gift when you least expect it can be all you need to know that someone cares,” she said. “I think we all need to know this more than ever right now. The positive feedback we have received from parents shows that the kit did its job perfectly.”
Headteacher Malcolm Johnson believe that the school is trying all they can to keep the remote learning as normal as possible. He said: “This time around we tried to step up interaction to a whole new level, not only do the pupils check in first thing in morning and first thing in the afternoon – but the teacher teaches the lessons live and is available whilst pupils carry out their work. They still have their meeting open so children can come up, like they would come up to the teacher’s desk in the classroom, and their progress is checked. There’s that direct interaction with the teacher. It is what the teachers enjoy about teaching, but it’s also what the pupils benefit most from.”
Around 25 pupils of key workers are still being taught in person at the school, receiving wrap around care until 5.30pm if needed.
Mr Johnson is also wary of the negative effects on pupils’ well-being caused by lockdown, but said the survival kit showed the school cared. “The pupils have been incredibly resilient, coping admirably with the situation, but it was clear how much they appreciated the gesture. It just shows, we’re a family and we genuinely care for each other.”
And now something for the kids: click here to have a go at our puzzle, inspired by the Greenbank School’s “Lockdown Survival Kit”.
