With lockdown restrictions now in place across the country, Bryan Lewis and the team in our Development Office have been working with senior alumni and retired staff to develop initiatives with the aim of keeping the community connected.
We know that many might be experiencing feelings of isolation and loneliness during this time, so a primary focus of the Development Office has been to consider how we can directly combat this.
The team have been in contact with several alumni and retired staff members who said it would make their day to receive a letter, postcard or piece of art from ESMS children. An appeal was sent to parents soon after to request their help to brighten someone’s day and the response from families happy to be connected to senior ESMS community members was overwhelming.
Over 100 pupils are now linked with alumni or retired staff, who have been delighted to receive letters and artwork from children across ESMS.
Mary, MES Class of 1959, who was matched with a pupil from the ESMS Junior School said: “I was so pleased to receive a lovely letter and to hear about her life at school and out. I was very surprised to receive a lovely Easter card from her, too. It is wonderful that the school has a pupil who is such a credit to her family and to the school. Thank you to everyone involved in implementing this lovely idea.”
Many alumni are now starting to write back to the families and share their own stories from ESMS, from either the teaching or learning side of the classroom!
We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has been involved with this initiative so far.
The team hope to continue to link more school families with alumni in the coming weeks so if you would like to join in, please don’t hesitate to contact Suzi in the Development Office via email: development@esms.org.uk.
