STAFF and students from Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School are being encouraged to send in short stories and photographs to the school showing how they are doing at home.

The stories and pictures will feature in the school’s regular newsletter, which is out on Friday.

Headteacher Denis Oliver said on the school’s website: “In the two weeks between newsletters, the world as we know it has changed considerably and will continue to do so.

“In this week’s newsletter, we would like to focus on how people within our school community are starting to do things differently now that the school site has closed.

“It would be great if staff and students could send in short stories and photos about how they are doing at home.

“Over the next few months our school will continue to be a vibrant, virtual learning environment which will continue to develop as the weeks progress.

“Our fortnightly newsletter will be an important cornerstone in keeping us all in touch with each other.

“We have a responsibility to provide support to key workers who are unable to secure childcare which we are doing via the Key Workers Club.

“The club started this week with nine children. It was fantastic to see staff volunteer in numbers to help us launch that initiative.

“We have now set staffing at a safe level and released others from the rota.

“We will continue to ask for support from staff on a voluntary basis to keep the initiative going over the coming weeks.

“Keeping our essential services working is vital and your help in doing this is so important.

“Other than the Key Workers Club, students and parents are adapting to ‘school at home’ with work being completed and submitted to teachers in increasing volumes and the quality of much of it is really high, particularly where parents have engaged and supported their children with their learning.

“Our school and sixth form are now closed. We usually have around 150 staff working at school. For the foreseeable future, the number of our staff on-site will be up to seven per day. All non-essential work by external contractors has now stopped.”