Norwich School Covid-19 Community Response
Norwich School is committed to making a valuable contribution to the community during the Covid19 outbreak. Whilst the school is closed to most pupils, we hope to continue to support those most affected and those working on the frontline during this time.
Background
PPE FOR FRONTLINE STAFF
Our Art and Design team began producing protective visors for use in medical and care settings almost as soon as the country was placed in lockdown. The team repurposed the school Art and Design workshops into a production line for making PPE, the design for which came from 3D Teacher Ed Cann, who devised an original prototype. The team have now produced over 8,820 visors, which have been donated to over 90 locations in Norfolk and the wider UK. These have been distributed by the school to local hospitals, care homes, hospices and other medical settings, with masks also donated to community volunteers such as St John’s Ambulance and RNLI.
Many local organisations made this possible, through the donation of materials, packaging and delivery services. This included Norwich City Football Club who assisted with use of their company vehicles for distribution, and Lotus who offered use of their specialist laser-cutting equipment to produce visor components.
The school also shared the design instructions with other schools and organisations with facilities to make visors in their own settings.
RESOURCES FOR YEAR 11 PUPILS - PREPARATION FOR A LEVEL STUDY
Norwich School subject leaders have created schemes of work to help current Year 11 Pupils prepare for studying at A Level whilst their school is closed. These resources have been made available for all Year 11 pupils and are published on the school’s website. The school recognises the particular disruption to education for pupils in this year group, who would normally have spent this time sitting public exams. The resources, which cover 16 subjects, have been developed to help pupils to make the transition from GCSE to A-Level and are designed to be accessed and used remotely.
NORWICH SCHOOL DANCERS PERFORM AT LOCAL CARE HOMES
During Trinity term, pupils from U6 devised an initiative to visit local care homes to perform dances for residents in the gardens. The school has a long-running relationship with a local charity Friend In Deed, whose mission is to help combat loneliness amongst the older generations in Norfolk.
Pupils came up with the with the idea of an outdoor dance performance to boost morale and hopefully spread some joy and positivity to residents who had not been able to receive visitors during the crisis. In total, the girls performed dances in the grounds of 4 local care homes, which visitors could watch at a safe distance outside, or from their room windows. The care homes were delighted to have some live entertainment for residents after a long period of isolation.
PROVIDING MEALS FOR VULNERABLE PEOPLE THROUGH THE NR5 COMMUNITY HUB
Whilst not providing meals for the larger pupil body, the Norwich School catering team has been making and delivering meals to people in need in Norwich through the NR5 Community Hub. The initiative, which is being run by hub volunteers and a number of charity partners who are delivering the meals, aims to get food to vulnerable people primarily in the NR5 area of the city.
The school is donating meals to the hub, which are being made by the school’s catering team and so far, they have made and shared 6,500 meals to date.
LOWER SCHOOL PUPILS WRITE 140 LETTERS FOR LOCAL CARE HOME RESIDENTS
Lower School pupils have been writing letters of friendship to local care home residents, with 140 messages being delivered to older people in total.
Inspired by the National Literacy Trust's campaign #mydearnewfriend, pupils decided to write letters to those living in care homes after hearing that many residents have not been able to receive visits from friends and family due to the lockdown. Loneliness amongst the older generations has been highlighted as a particular issue in Norfolk, one which is made even more prevalent in the current national situation.
Pupils enjoyed writing about themselves and their families, describing the many activities and learning they have been doing whilst staying away from school. Letters have been sent to 16 care homes in Norfolk, which the children hope will dispel any boredom and bring a smile to their faces.
NORWICH SCHOOL SIXTH FORM PUPILS CREATE A DVD AND CD OF MUSIC AND DANCE FOR LOCAL CARE HOMES
Pupils from Norwich School Sixth Form have been working together to create a CD and DVD of pupil music and dance performances to be sent to local care homes during lockdown. The group were inspired by the school’s long-running partnership with Friend In Deed, the Norfolk charity dedicated to combatting loneliness amongst the older generations. Pupils have been gathering past footage of pupil performances and recording new material for the project, which have been turned into a DVD and CD for care homes to play with their residents. Entitled “Arts of Connection”, the DVD and CD also featured a pupil-devised quiz for residents to play to help keep them entertained.
These have sent to 37 homes in total, and staff and residents have shared their enjoyment of being able to watch the performances and receive kind wishes from Norwich pupils.
NORWICH SCHOOL SIXTH FORM PUPILS DEVELOP CONTACT SCHEME FOR VULNERABLE AND OLDER ALUMNI
A group of our community-minded and enthusiastic Upper Sixth pupils have been helping senior members of our Old Norvicensian (ON) community during the pandemic through a volunteer contact scheme. They have offered a friendly phone call to ONs, centred around Norwich School life and shared experiences of school over the decades.
Hearing that some ONs had been shielding indoors throughout the pandemic and many had not been able to see grandchildren and loved ones due to restrictions in place, the pupils wanted to do something to help and, working with the School’s Development Office, they set up the scheme.
Conversations covered topics from VE Day fireworks to secret trysts in air raid shelters by the light of magnesium ribbon “borrowed” from the chemistry department; from kayaking trips to memories of classmates sadly departed; from post-lockdown travel plans to memories of favourite teachers.
Feedback from both ONs and pupils has been extremely positive:
“I had a most delightful and interesting conversation. I do have a memory of her grandad. We talked for half an hour or more. She is a good listener” said one 83 year old ON from the Norfolk coast. “We had a good talk…, discovering the many things that we have in common, in spite of the rather large difference in our ages..” said another, aged 82 from his Norwich flat.