SCHOOLS in Stanley have joined together to create a central learning hub to support families of key workers.

Stanley Learning Partnership will see all four schools of the Multi-Academy Trust; Greenland Community Primary School, South Stanley Infant & Nursery School, South Stanley Junior School and Bloemfontein Primary School work from one central site. Children of all SLP Key Workers will, therefore, attend the same location, irrespective of their home school.

The hub location will rotate across all four schools on a four-week rota starting with Greenland Community Primary School. When the hub school is open, all other sites will be closed.

Mark Stewart, CEO of Stanley Learning Partnership said: “We have taken the decision to centralise the provision for key worker families after a great deal of careful consideration.

“We have very stringent measures in place to protect both children and staff in accordance with the Government advice and guidelines.

“Rotating the central hub will see three of our four sites closed for three weeks at a time. This gives the building the best chance to recover and any infection to die before it is reopened.

“By centralising this service, we can also reduce the number of staff that need to be in school, hence reducing their risk of infection and preventing the virus from spreading further.”

Mrs Laura Liddell, Headteacher of Bloemfontein Primary School said: “Being able to work alongside other SLP schools is invaluable at present for both children and staff. It offers us support and solidarity at a time when we need this most.

“It is also so important that we support our staff and look after their well-being as much as we can. Being able to share the load across our four schools enables us to do just that.”

Greenland Community Primary School will be the first hub location followed by Bloemfontein Primary School, South Stanley Infants & Nursery School and South Stanley Junior School respectively.

Darcey Gilbert Year 2 pupil at Greenland Community Primary School said: “I understand that by being here my mam and all the other key workers can go to work. The teachers have been great. We’ve done some work together, but we’ve also had fun and spent a lot of time outside. I am looking forward to getting back to normal though.”

To support parents as much as possible, children attending the hub will receive breakfast and lunch at no cost to families. Activities will be fun and engaging as staff endeavour to meet the needs of the children attending.

Free School Meals for families will be unaffected. The partnership will continue to provide packed lunches to those families that need them, delivering them to home schools whilst following a collection system that has been put in place.