Marches Academy Trust TrustMaster 500 Words of Thanks

500 Words of Thanks Anthology Marches Academy TrustMaster 2020

TrustMaster 2020

500 Words of Thanks Competition We wanted to think about some of the positives that have come out of lockdown - an appreciation of the world that we live in and the people that have helped us on our journey. We have received a range of extremely personal stories and some true celebrations of key figures and key workers, as we mark the impact of 2020.

We wanted to share both our winners and highly commended responses as we reflect on the challenges that we have all faced together. Thank you for reminding us how powerful writing can be.

Primary School Winner Hayden Taylor - Oakmeadow Primary School

Hayden Taylor Oakmeadow Primary “This is a fantastic re-imagining of Edgar’s story with a really important moral - ‘We may only get through things when we think as we, not me.’ ”

Secondary School Winner Carys Binnion - Shrewsbury Academy

Carys Binnion Shrewsbury Academy “Carys’s discussion of David Attenborough’s contributions are really heartfelt and empathetic to the world at the moment.”

To David Attenborough, Thank you for producing 'A Life on our Planet' and not giving up on changing our world for the better. This documentary greatly impacted me and made me realise how selfish we are as humans, especially in terms of speeding up the reduction of the natural world. Your 'Witness Statement' highlighted the harsh reality of what happens as we speak and yet this cannot be ignored any longer. Even though I have seen the cruel truths, you gave me hope above everything else that things can improve. It is frustrating, as an individual trying to help, but creating recognition of things like dietary changes to that of growing foliage made me encouraged to do so to my best ability.

Your passion and resilience to continue driving to save our planet is inspiring and I can (at least) say greatly appreciated by me. You could retire and put your feet up but instead, your care and motivation to ‘never-give-up’ is amazing. Seeing the disappointment within your 'Witness Statement' about how we have treated the planet throughout your life, is heart-breaking. You have improved my mindset as a person and will inspire people all around the world to grasp onto the fundamentals of our future.

Staff Entries

Leah Vigon Lower Heath This is a truly personal and moving tribute to the people that we become - and to those instrumental in getting us there.

I didn’t need to think that long or that hard for this as I think about this most days. This is a le8er of thanks to my parents, who loved, supported and guided me to help make me the person that I am today. No, I’m not Prime Minister, no I’m not famous, nor am I a millionaire or a CEO. What I am though is a paDent mother, a good friend, a caring partner and a hard worker. These a8ributes I owe to the people that shaped my young life.

To my parents, thank you for giving me encouragement to explore the world around me, to be inquisiDve and ask quesDons. You provided the colour to my world but and gave me the roots to reach and grow. Your belief in me never faded, whatever I said I was going to be then that was the case even though I changed my mind at least once a week!!

You were keen for us to learn about the world and the different people that lived in it, be it through our Jewish faith or holidays and days out. I have so many memories including watching dragons dance at Chinese New Year, eaDng sugar cane at NoLng Hill Carnival in London and climbing the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Not a year went by where our lives weren’t jam packed with trips to NaDonal Trust stately homes, museums, art galleries and some historical site. I cursed you for it at the Dme but I realise now that sub-consciously it was all seeping in as I now have a great love for history and culture.

It wasn’t always so tranquil though. Our annual ouDngs to Alton Towers, Blackpool Pleasure Beach and any other theme park within a drivable distance from our home, were legendary. We

made it our mission to conquer every big ride – the faster, the scarier the be8er. Mum was not a thrill seeker but she would be more than happy to stand, smile and wave as we all shot past on the 20th roller coaster ride of the day (queues were smaller in the 1980’s!).

You were both dedicated, not just to your family, but your friends, colleagues and work in educaDon. Both of you were willing to step out of your comfort zone or go against the grain if you firmly believed it was the right thing to do. You led with the heart and your compassion for people. To you, success was about making a difference in someone’s life and leLng them know that they ma8ered. That is my mantra today, with every child I work with as a Teaching Assistant, a job I am truly proud to have.

Throughout our childhood, you provided us with a sense of community and idenDty. That became clear when unfortunately on March 6th 1997, mum passed away. There was a swell around us of love, support and unity. We received hundreds of cards and le8ers, all telling us of their own relaDonship and connecDon with mum. It signified to me that mum was very much like her gravestone says “A woman of worth.” Though I know I will not touch that many lives, I will not take for granted the ones that I do.

So this le8er is dedicated to my parents in memory of my mum Sarnie Vigon 1946-1997 Thank you for giving me life and thank you for showing me how to live it.

William Patterson Tilstock CE Primary A passionate thanks to key workers and acknowledgement of the challenges that all walks of life have experienced and thanks for small moments of friendship and kindness.

Thank you.

Thank you.

A common phrase. Oden u8ered without a thought. For example, when accepDng a badly kni8ed jumper from a grandparent, or a bath set, given in the spirit of secret Santa, filled with lavender and camomile, from a li8le known colleague.

But in Dmes like these, unprecedented, unpredictable, unexplainable; we need this phrase more than ever. We need to thank our grandparents for the jumpers they knit and our colleagues for the thought that went into choosing relaxing scents, when they know more than most how much you need to relax.

A thank you to the bus driver, for geLng you to school safely.

A thank you to the cashier at the supermarket, for making sure you get your 5-a-day.

A thank you to the bin men, for recycling your parcel packages - which mysteriously appeared at your door.

This year we give thanks to those who have supported us. Those who have helped us rise to the challenge and will conDnue to strive with us through all the challenges to come. To the administrators, the dinner staff and the care takers. We see you and we thank you.

To the teaching assistants, the senior leadership team and the teachers: we see you and we thank you. To the parents and the pupils, always in our thoughts: we see you and we thank you.

It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to educate, encourage and support a child through the most difficult of situaDons. We have all faced our own challenges and have been key workers for our community throughout this year. We have changed our profession, adapted and engaged like never before.

We have moved to a new medium and back, while keeping our love for our work and the pupils at the core of everything we have done.

At this Dme of year, we give thanks, not only to individuals but for moments. Moments of joy and laughter to shine light in the darkness. Moments for pure friendship and kindness that reminds us that the world is a fantasDc place and the people in it are worth fighDng for. No ma8er the hardships we face, these moments remind us that the best days in this profession are always worth the bad days. The connecDons we have made have strengthened our teams, made us more resilient and to see our community in a different light.

If it was ever in doubt, this Dme has proved, unequivocally, that a school offers you more than an educaDon. It offers you a safe space and a place to build a community, built on respect and learning.

So, thank you to YOU. The Dred person who has gone above and beyond for their colleagues and the pupils in their care this year, as with every year. You are a hero, you kept the country going and the next generaDon learning. The future is safe because of you. The future is theirs because of you.

Thank you.

Catherine Barnett Sir John Talbot’s School ‘Sonnet 2020’ reminds us of the sacrifices and efforts made whilst leaving us with the reminder that this challenging year has “taught us to be kind” but that now we must “look forward and leave this year behind.”

Sonnet 2020 “I can no other answer make but thanks, And thanks; and ever thanks;” (William Shakespeare, TwelAh Night)

This year has been tempestuous – An ever-raging storm.

Thanks to those who’ve weathered it; And embraced the changing norm.

Thanks to all the healthcare teams – A bright blue tower of strength, Thanks to all our scienDsts, Who for us, have toiled at length.

Thanks to all the school staff, Who’ve marched that extra mile.

And to each and every student - You make it all worth-while.

Thanks to 2020 – you’ve taught us to be kind, Now, we must look forward and leave this year behind.

To All Ke Wo ke

Abi Varley Marches School

You left your loved ones behind closed doors

You transformed event spaces,

So we could be safe, and take time to pause,

with creativity, and brave faces.

You worked from home with babes on laps.

Looking after the masses,

Our thanks not enough in an 8 o clock clap.

after very few classes.

You risked your safety, to look after our babies.

To those who have put lives on hold,

And taught online with enthusiasm, daily.

We re grateful you are brave and bold,

When money was tight, you supported our fight.

To those who work hard to find the cures,

And defended our grades with all your might.

When life got tough, you cared for our ill, With not much thought about your own will, You left your loves ones, to care for us, With nothing like an inch of fuss.

You stacked our shelves, and kept us fed.

When we took more than our daily bread.

You fed the vulnerable, with doorstep deliveries.

When some, went to castles, and took liberties.

When we needed entertaining, Your energy was draining.

Delivering our panic buys, Graciously sharing in our surprise.

When we felt alone, You picked up the phone.

When we could hide no more, from demons lurking at our doors.

Our thanks will be forever yours

Thank You Thank you are two words that you learn to use; you learn for them to be habitual and natural, not forced or pushed.

Thank you develops a person, you feel empowered, bright and honest. The words ‘thank you’ can be used in ways that establish a relaDonship, like ‘sorry' or ‘I love you’.

Thank you are two words that are oden forgo8en or misused. Two simple words that take no Dme at all to say and no inhale of breath is needed.

This year we have come to use ‘Thank you’ in the most profound way. It seems different, reliable and disDnguished. Thank you does not always have to be towards others, or for any one thing. We can thank others; we can thank our body and our mind. Thank you for life and thank you those that prevented or support others through death and loss. The words Thank you this year have become the most honest of words, the most thought-provoking and emoDonal of our language. They have never been more clear and more needed.

Personally, thank you to those that kept my Nan alive through COVID, when we were unable to visit, sleeping in her room whist she recovered and in order not to spread it to others. Thank you to my sister who unselfishly worked

on the front line, contracDng COVID and sDll working to protect and treat others. PuLng others ahead of her own family. Willing and wanDng to go back to work to support her team. Thank you to goose and bear, dog walking and swimming and the joy and health they provided was truthful and pure. Thank you to my family and friends for checking in and keeping me here, alive and happy. My Tik Tok queen and my wife building all lockdown to keep herself and her brain entertained. But mainly thank you to myself, to my body to my mind for staying safe on more days than not. Thank you to lockdown for providing space and Dme to reflect, to heal and to comfort.

Health and happiness are a journey of self-love and strength. Not to be taken for granted and not to be ignored or hidden. Thank yourself every day that whatever your experience you survived each day a li8le bit be8er than the one before.

Thank you is oden overrated, seen as an expression or obligaDon, but this year thank you brings clarify and tone, reflecDon and pride.

So, thank you, thank you to all of those that surround us, thank you to family, friends and strangers and neighbours for pulling together to get each other through 2020.

Sian Newey Marches School

Thank You I wake up in the morning….will I cope with the day?

I wish all the hopeless feelings would just go away.

People say, ‘just keep going, everything will be fine’, But they have no experience in this life of mine.

I drag myself to school and the first people I see, Are teaching staff on duty, smiling back at me.

I’ve forgo8en my shoes and have no pens or pencils in my bag, Thank God for pastoral services who help me dodge the finger wag.

My teenage brain just doesn’t get how important school should be, I feel that teachers always like geLng on at me.

I get to class reluctantly with so much on my mind, But smiles and kindness from the teacher, that is what I find.

You’d think it easy to disappear amongst the classroom masses, But my teachers take the Dme to know the students in their classes.

They ask me how I am to let me know how much they care, They take the Dme to know me….now those sad feeling I can bare.

I don’t always get it right, some may say I pick a fight, but because you’re always calm and insistent, I know you will always be my consistent.

I need those boundaries to keep me steady, and thank you for making me learning ready.

Before I know it I’m whisked away, new concepts to explore, The teacher delivers moDvaDon, inspiraDon, aspiraDon and more.

The teacher sows the seeds of opportunity and hope, And opens my horizons with bounDful endless scope.

So I end the day being grateful for your paDence with me, For treaDng me with love and kindness, as all life should be.

For believing in my future when I’ve given up myself, For forgiving my imperfecDons and your compassionate wealth.

Thank you for your humanity, Thank you for your faith, Thank you for your commitment To the whole of the student race.

Justine Holdsworth Marches School

#togetherwegrow