Schools making videos to show pupils they are “thinking of them”

With schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, teachers and staff from schools across Caerphilly County Borough have been making fun videos to keep in touch with pupils.

Schools in Wales have been closed since Friday, March 20 due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

St Cenydd Comprehensive School, Tir y Berth Primary School and Trinity Fields School are among the schools to have made lighthearted videos to reach out to pupils during the lockdown.

St Cenydd headteacher Rebecca Collins said: “The teachers and staff wanted to show our pupils that we are thinking of them and that we miss them. 

“Pupils are missing their friends, learning from a distance, and managing without the routines and support of a normal school day.  We hoped that our video would bring a smile to our pupils’ faces and remind them that we are here for them.”

Miss Collins explained that teachers and staff are in regular contact with pupils and parents, setting online work tasks and providing feedback, as well as supporting pupils with their “nutritional, physical and emotional wellbeing”.

She added: “It is a real team effort and everyone at St Cenydd is working hard to support the learning and wellbeing of all our pupils.

“The support that we have had from Caerphilly County Borough Council has been excellent – whether that has been in the hubs for key workers’ children, providing and distributing free school meals, or supporting vulnerable learners.”

Tir y Berth Primary School have also been making videos for pupils.

Headteacher Sian Clemens said: “At the beginning of lockdown we decided to have a ‘Wear a Hat’ day in awareness of brain tumours. We took a screenshot and sent it to the children and were surprised by their reaction and how pleased they were to see us.

“From there, we decided to create a weekly video. Our school motto is ‘Learning and Laughing Together’ so we wanted to create something fun.

“We realised how important it was to create the videos to maintain links with the children. We had lots of positive comments from families.

“We have weekly staff meetings and part of our discussions are around what we will do for the Friday video. For our third video the weather was beautiful and we decided to have a water fight. I must admit I think our families enjoyed this as much as the children as they got to throw water at us.

“This made lots of the children laugh, which is so important at this difficult time.

“Daisy, our wellbeing dog, features in our videos as the children enjoy seeing her. This is a way of reaching out to the children so they know we are still here and they are still part of our school community. It’s a great way of sharing, and showing the children that they are still important to us.”