Singing for hope and solidarity
SCHOOL STAFF RECORD UPLIFTING VIDEO
A HEARTWARMING video created by a west Hull primary school as a message of hope and solidarity for pupils and parents has been shared and appreciated as far away as the US.
Francis Askew Primary, which closed this week because of a number of confirmed coronavirus cases, first got creative with film back in March, when the children decided they wanted to show their support for key workers and did their own take on the Coldplay hit Fix You.
And towards the end of the first coronavirus lockdown, the school staff recorded their own uplifting version of You Will Be Found, from the musical Dear Evan Hansen, which teacher Jacqui Overfield decided to bring to the attention of the Mail.
“I wanted to share this link because there is a lot of teacherbashing at the moment and a lot of what staff do is not seen by the public,” she said.
“School staff never stop thinking about the children, whether they are physically in the building or not.
“Although Francis Askew Primary is currently closed, this school always has the best interests of the children at heart - like all schools, the children’s safety and wellbeing is at the heart of what they do.
“Let’s remember, we are all in this together.”
Mrs Overfield, a Year 5 class teacher, said it had been important to Francis Askew to show it was still there for the school community, despite what was happening as a result of the pandemic.
She said: “Rebecca Kingston, my year group partner and Year 6 lead, is amazing and put everything together for the video.
“We all recorded our own bits separately in different places as it was during lockdown and she brought it all together.
“We’ve had a heartwarming response from parents, some very teary, some very thankful, saying they felt they were not on their own, which is the whole point of the song.
“It’s been shared by parents – we had had 4,000 hits for this link alone – and it’s even gone to America, where it has been liked by the group We Are Teachers. It’s had a massive reach.
“It wasn’t something we did to say, look at us, it was just to say we are not on our own.
“It was a whole team effort, from the headteacher Ruth Murray to the cleaners. Anybody and everybody who wanted to be part of it was in it.”
Francis Askew Primary has since recorded and shared a staff J Rock danceathon and is also busy preparing something for Christmas, which Mrs Overfield said would also have the “feel-good factor”.
■ To view the video, search “You Will Be Found - Francis Askew Primary School” on youtube.com