Fife pupils say a special 'thank you' to NHS staff

The primary seven pupils wrote letters to staff at Victoria Hospital recently and they were delighted when they got a reply!

Kelly Syme, who teaches one of the primary seven classes along with her colleagues Lesley McGregor and Kirsten Clunie, explained where the idea for the tributes came from.

She said: “At the start of lockdown, P7 pupils started keeping a diary of their experiences. One of the questions they were asked to consider each day was “what are you grateful for today?”.

“The consistent answer across the year group focused on the NHS and the work they were doing. It was great to see the children recognising the importance of the work of others and being grateful for this in such challenging circumstances.

“I work as part of a team of three primary seven teachers: myself, Lesley McGregor and Kirsten Clunie. We collectively devised a week of literacy work focused around a photo published on digital teaching resource TES.

“The children had undertaken a variety of activities that week which were based on the picture and we decided it would be beneficial for them to recognise the NHS Heroes they had heard about on TV as real people, which is where the letters came in. They had written to local care home residents at the start of lockdown and had loved doing so.”

She continued: “Each child was asked to write a letter to an NHS worker on the front line thanking them for their service. The letters were delivered to Sarah Cunningham, a nurse at the A&E department at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, to distribute to her colleagues.

“The children were absolutely delighted to get a reply from the staff at the hospital which gave an insight into how appreciated the letters and gratitude were in such difficult times.”

Kelly added: “The children were absolutely delighted to receive a letter back. I don’t think they were expecting to, having developed their awareness of how busy NHS staff are. They were incredibly appreciative of the time staff at the hospital had taken to reply to them.”

Headteacher Julie Anderson said: “Our Primary sevens wrote letters to the staff at the Victoria Hospital and a class teacher’s sister took them in with her to work.

“The reaction has been amazing, to say the least. The teacher, Miss McGregor, has had a reply for every child who sent a letter and a covering letter from the consultant of A&E. Everyone has been completely overwhelmed by the very positive response - both ways!”

Responding to the letters, Dr Alistair Dewar, consultant in emergency medicine at Victoria Hospital’s emergency department, said: “Dear P7s, on behalf of all the nurses, nursing assistants, doctors and everyone else who works in the department, I just wanted to say a really big thank you for the letters you wrote us.

“Your letters have put big smiles on our faces and it’s been great to read and hear about what you have been getting up to during lockdown.“Some of you have fantastic hobbies!

“It’s really nice to know you’ve been thinking about us - in the same way we have been thinking about you and how different life is for you all, and for your mums and dads and teachers. You’re all being awesome, keep up the hard work staying inside as much as you can, even though it can feel sad and difficult sometimes.”

He added: “Be kind to each other and to the big people around you too. Thank you again and stay safe.”