Banbury primary school hosts Thanks a Teacher Day activities

Amy Rogers, principal at Dashwood Academy Banbury, decided Thank A Teacher Day should be Thank All Staff Day at her school and expressed her gratitude through treats and special cards.

She explained the school always has a day in the week, usually Thursday, which has been dubbed ‘Thankful Thursday’ where all staff, from cleaners and cooks to admin and teachers, are thanked through emails or treats in the staff room.

This year for Thank A Teacher Day, Mrs Rogers said she decided to turn it into a whole school affair through the involvement of the students.

She said: ‘’Yesterday I posted on our Facebook site saying it is Thank all Staff day on Wednesday, and put a shout out to parents to get some of the kids involved. This post has been seen by 291 people and our students did come in today and thank their teachers.

‘’I’ve created little green cards with thank you messages which the students have hand delivered to teachers and the cards read: ‘It takes a big heart to shape little minds. Thank you for being amazing.’

‘’The staff has a treats basket filled with doughnuts, cakes & chocolate bars. I have also given some of my staff flowers and there has been some fruit for Lily, the school dog.’’

Mrs Rogers said this year’s Thank A Teacher Day is even more important given the upheaval the disruption Covid has caused to the schooling of children.

She added: ‘’Staff in general work so hard but this year they’ve gone above and beyond and put in extra effort and time. Saying thank you is about showing gratitude for the work they have done and to let them know it has not gone unnoticed.

‘’If it’s valued then people will always be willing to continue to work hard. We don’t have a high staff turnover at Dashwood because the staff here know that their hard work is appreciated.

‘’I make a point of thanking all my staff – it’s not just teachers, it is everyone from the office staff, to the cooks and cleaners.’’