Pupils from Banks Road Hub say: “Thank You NHS”

Banks Road Hub, a collection of three primary schools in Speke, has been working together to provide continued education for children of key workers and vulnerable children from the area in these unprecedented times.

Staff and pupils from Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School and St Austin’s Catholic Primary School who have been attending Banks Road Primary School have been getting creative in the lockdown.

Teachers at the hub have been remote-teaching the children in each of their settings using a variety of online tools. To encourage the children in all three schools they decided to produce a book of the children’s writing, which they would sell and give all profits to the NHS.

The book entitled “Thank You NHS” had the theme of ‘How the world healed’ is now complete and parents are beginning to put their orders in.

The book contains 94 stories written by the children, teachers and well-known Liverpool actor Ricky Tomlinson. Children from all year groups submitted stories with most of the children who submitted stories wrote them unaided at home, some used ‘model texts’ provided by their class teachers and had their class teachers look them over before submitting them for publication.

James Savage, assistant headteacher at Banks Road Primary, said: “We have completed two books here at Banks Road before. These books have been around different themes and both books have had a huge impact on writing across the school. This is the first time we have collaborated across three schools to produce a book but it has worked brilliantly”.

Linda Gibson, headteacher of Banks Road, said: “At the time of the pandemic in March, the three schools pulled together in challenging circumstances to keep key workers’ children and vulnerable children safe.

“For the children, we thought this book would provide a wonderful opportunity to give them a voice in these trying times. We wanted their stories to be optimistic, but we also thought it was very important that they be given the opportunity to write in their own words their thoughts and feelings about the world around them.

“It was inspirational for the children to know that their teachers and a well known local celebrity was also taking part.

“Not only does the published book look amazing, it has also allowed the children to contribute to raising funds for a great cause – our wonderful NHS!”

Joris Bohnson

Sami Al Saidi, Banks Road Primary School

I switched on the news. As usual, The Prime Minister Joris Bohnson was having his daily 5pm Coronavirus Press Briefing. I listened for a while so I could catch up on the latest updated.

“Mr Bohnson, the NHS is uner some pressure as hospitals are running out of space and resources are in short supply. Has the government taken action on this?

“Yes, definitely, we have helped by building the Nightingale hospitals which have provided them with extra care beds, and ordered plenty of Personal Protective Equipment and ventilators. I am confident in the NHS and they will get through it”.

“Mr Bohnson, the UK has been in lock down for five weeks now. Could you give us some insight on when you are reopening the nation?”

“Well, there is no certain fixed date for that, but we will look at the situation in the coming weeks, but now it was getting boring. I wished the virus would just disappear and everything was back to normal.

I went upstairs and finished some homework then had dinner before bed. I lay down, dreaming of a time when all was normal in the world, and soon I fell asleep.

I looked at the electronic clock as my eyes started to unstick themselves: 09:37. I stretched my arms and legs, preparing for another day in lock down. I went down and had breakfast then did my schoolwork before having a relaxing break. I had lunch and dinner, doing some work and relaxation in between every meal, also watching the 5pm briefing, then it was time for bed. The dull process repeated itself for the next six months, sleep, eat, work, play, repeat.

Meanwhile, the heroic NHS continued serving the nation with bravery and resilience, working non-stop. The whole country was grateful, including us, so we went into our gardens and participated in the Clap for our Carers program every Thursday. All it required was patience and perseverance, and this would soon pass and everything would be normal.

SIX MONTHS LATER

I glanced at the clock as I sat in the sofa being bored. 16:34.

Only half an hour until the 5pm briefing, so I thought I should better turn on the news. I looked at the headlines at the bottom of the screen, expecting the usual; “2000 new UK cases, lock down could be lifted in a few weeks”. Instead, this is what I saw:

“SCIENTISTS AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY DEVELOP REVOLUTIONARY RNA VACCINE, APPROVED BY GOVERNMENT FOR MASS PRODUCTION”.

I could not believe my eyes, so I asked my brother if he could see the same thing on the screen. He said yes. So for further clarification, I switched to a different news channel and it was all the same. A wave of happiness and gratitude crashed over me and I started cheering madly.

“HOOOOORAAAAYYYYYYY!!! THE VACCINE HAS ARRIVED! THE NHS HAS DONE IT!”

Coincidentally, that day was a Thursday, and clapping started to ring through the neighbourhood. Even though it was usually in the evening, we went out into our front garden and started clapping for the NHS as well.

And that is story of How the World Healed.