Huge piece of art helps bring Doncaster school together

Youngsters at a Doncaster primary school have created a huge piece of lockdown art as part of a bid to bring the school together.
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Pupils attending Hexthorpe Primary Academy, run by Astrea Academy Trust, during lockdown made a rainbow paper chain, with over 600 links, to represent every member of the Hexthorpe school community.

It took two weeks to complete and when the children measured it, it was longer than the school playground. The completed chain has been hung on the Urban Road school fence as part of a display to mark a Festival of Kindness that the trust ran to mark Mental Health Awareness Week.

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The festival also provided additional support to its school staff, pupils and families, through a series of virtual events and activities which ran across the week, to raise awareness and remove the stigma of mental health, focusing on wellbeing, feelings and emotions, in case pupils felt of isolated or frustratedYoungsters who are still attending school during lockdown and those working from home took part in a variety of activities to help spread the kindness across the community, including making pictures and messages out of natural objects whilst out on their walks and making their own compliments jar.

Pupils at Hexthorpe Primary SchoolPupils at Hexthorpe Primary School
Pupils at Hexthorpe Primary School

They have now been named an ‘Official Artist’ by the Doncaster Royal Infirmary and thanked by hospital staff for pictures sent to the hospital and told that their drawings have boosted the morale of its staff.

School staff are also putting together food packages for families in need to make sure all families associated with the school have access to food.

Nicola Parker-Watts, principal at Hexthorpe Primary Academy, said: “It is great to see how, despite the current circumstances, our school is still able to support all of our families. The staff have been making sure that children can access learning and get the right support both academically and emotionally. Children are talking to their teachers and regularly over the phone and this is helping reassure and support them in these uncertain times. It is this that is helping to strengthen the community spirit and all of our Hexthorpe Primary families.

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