With a third lockdown underway, schools have had to shut their doors for the second time in a year.
But this hasn’t stopped the Elizabethan Academy Retford from caring for their dis-advantaged students, by giving them innovative packages that cover food, health and school work.
Instead of handing out food vouchers for Free School Meals, the academy are giving food hampers, sanitary products and school work for pupils who don’t have internet access.
And they are using the programme as a way of checking on the students wellbeing.
Alison Clark, vice principal and co-ordinator of free school meals at the school said: “We need to keep in contact with our most vulnerable families. So, rather than give vouchers because we wouldn’t have that face-to-face contact, we decided to put in a few delivery routes and deliver their packed lunches.”
Every Monday, teachers head out on three routes to deliver 154 support packages.
Kim Adams is a parent of a vulnerable student on one of the delivery routes. She said that the packages are a big help and having contact with the school is good.
“It helps a lot to feed the children and they can choose what they want to eat then. We can also ask any questions we need to or anything like that, so that’s really good as well.”
With no date on when schools will re-open, the Elizabethan Academy plan to continue delivering support packages.
Click here to find out more about the Elizabethan Academy’s support packages.
