Shirebrook Academy students adapt to a new school norm as they return to the classroom after lockdown
Students spoke of the “weird” atmosphere and the strangeness of new signage, teaching arrangements and social distance measures when they returned to school for the first time after the coronavirus lockdown. Ninety-six days after they last set foot in the building, around 40 14 and 15-year-old Year 10 students returned to Shirebrook Academy this morning […]
Derbyshire textile company Baltex gets Royal seal of approval as it launches antiviral face mask
AN Ilkeston textile firm which has won the Queen’s Award for its international trade deals has turned its attention closer to home by developing a face mask from a pioneering 3D fabric with an antiviral finish. Baltex, a technical textile manufacturer, which has been in business since 1831, has been given the prestigious Queen’s Award […]
Staff at Shirebrook Academy in Derbyshire get set for a new way of teaching as they prepare to welcome more students back into school
Staff at a Shirebrook school have set up a one-way system and changed the lunchtime tables as they prepare to welcome dozens of students back through the doors following the coronavirus lockdown. Shirebrook Academy, in Common Lane, has spent weeks drawing up the plans to prevent coronavirus being transmitted between students, a limited number of […]
‘There will be many challenges ahead but we will try our best’ – says Mark Cottingham, head at Shirebrook Academy in Derbyshire
SHIREBROOK Academy principal Mark Cottingham speaks about how very different the Derbyshire school is these days… “The social distancing tape is freshly stuck to the floor, we’ve devised a one-way system around the building and have even changed the shape of the tables our students eat their lunch at, from round to oblong. “And so, […]
St Giles School keyworkers say a big ‘thank you’ to Derby secondary school for donation of much-needed visors
TWO Derby special schools have received a much-needed donation of protective visors which have been made by staff at a city secondary school. Ivy House, in Littleover, and St Giles School, in Hampshire Road, have been donated 20 visors for staff to use as they continue to care for children with special educational needs and […]
Derby school Murray Park stages Question Time with Derby North MP Amanda Solloway
Pupils at a Mickleover school were given the chance to grill Derby North MP Amanda Solloway during a virtual Question Time session and asked her about the UK’s shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and next year’s GCSEs. Students at Murray Park Community School were invited to submit questions for the hour-long session with Mrs […]
Former police chief Kul Mahay – once the most senior Asian officers in the UK – says it’s time for change after George Floyd death
A FOUNDING member of the UK’s Black Police Association has called for change following the death of African American, George Floyd. The 46-year-old’s death has sparked protests around the world over racism and police killings of Black Americans; Floyd died after his neck was pinned under a white officer’s knee. Derby man Kul Mahay, once […]
Students from Royal School for Deaf encourage deaf community to remember the holocaust
TWO profoundly deaf students have been invited to become ambassadors for the Holocaust Educational Trust after impressing the national charity with a presentation about Auschwitz. Denis Juttner and Adarsha Sunwar, both 18, are Royal School for the Deaf Derby pupils and visited the concentration camp in Poland as part of their studies. Following the visit, […]
Much-loved Oxford restaurant COSMO delivers free hot meals to John Radcliffe Hospital
STAFF at a popular Oxford restaurant which was forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic have still been busy in the kitchen preparing free hot meals for the parents of poorly babies and children at John Radcliffe Hospital. COSMO, in Magdalen Street, temporarily closed its doors to customers in March but the much-loved restaurant […]
Doughnut experts Project D offer a community service to people in the East Midlands and bring staff back to work
A Derby doughnut firm which furloughed all its staff at the onset of the coronavirus outbreak reinstated them all a week later after changing its business model to support the community. The company, which previously sold handcrafted doughnuts at events and kiosks in Derby’s Intu centre and Burton’s Cooper’s Square, furloughed all their staff when […]