Mansfield primary school hosts socially distanced assembly for year six leavers

St Peter's Church Of England Primary School in Mansfield said goodbye to their year six pupils who will be moving onto secondary school in September as part of a socially distanced leavers assembly on Friday, July 24.

During the send off, children were sat with the teacher and students in their ‘bubbles’ – the new, smaller classes they have formed in order to limit the spread of the virus.

While the whole school is usually present for the assembly, this year due to the coronavirus crisis the service was held outside on the playground with the students in their separate groups.

Year six pupils were welcomed back to school for the final week in the lead up to the leavers assembly to give the children a chance to say goodbye to the friends and teachers they have grown up with.

Headteacher James Marshall, Chair of Governors Christine Bacon and Reverend Caroline Phillips, who is the vicar of St. Peter’s Church, lead the service which commemorated the children’s time at the school.

Students also shared their favourite memories and stories during their education and were each given a bible.

Chair of Governors Christine Bacon explained why it was important to mark the special occasion during the pandemic: "We were really pleased because for a year six this is quite a big thing, this is their last year at school.

"If they weren't invited for that final week then they wouldn't have had the opportunity to say goodbye to their friends who they won't see again or their teachers.

"It was just a lovely opportunity for them to all come back, see each other again, be with each other and say goodbye and end their final day with their memories of primary school.

“The children are emotional, the parents are emotional and teachers are saying goodbye to students they've known for years.

"It is always a sad, happy occasion and it was very important that we managed to organise this and they came back for that week together."

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