AN eight-year-old pupil at a Chester primary school has written a poem for her teacher, Kerry Buckland, who she says is the best in the world.

Poppy, who is in Maple class at Upton Heath Primary School, wrote the poem after Mrs Buckland dropped off some books at Poppy’s home during the current period of school closure.

The poem, called Mrs Buckland, talks of lockdown as being quite scary and of the surprise and delight at seeing Mrs Buckland at her door.

The poem also covers the differences that most pupils across the UK are now facing with home learning, and the difficulties that this can bring, with some days being “full of happiness” whilst on other days “it’s a struggle”.

The honesty of the day to day struggles in the poem will resonate with many, both adults and children alike, as well as the joy that can be found in acts of kindness.

Poppy writes: “I needed five minutes just for me. So today’s knock on the door. Absolutely filled me full of glee.”

Poppy’s mum Gemma Sterriker, who also has another daughter Daisy at Upton Heath, said: “For myself, as well as every other parent in the country the idea of home schooling for an unknown amount of time seemed very daunting.

"However, from week one, it became apparent that Upton Heath had gone above and beyond to make this time as easy and enjoyable as possible for both the children and the parents.

“I admit I probably made the first week more stressful than it needed to be.

"We tried to set up ‘school’ within the home but we quickly realised this just did not work for us.

"Crying, shouting, frustrations and temper tantrums was not something I wanted for the rest of lockdown.

“We quickly changed the way we tackled school and have found that being much more relaxed has achieved much better results.

“The communications received from school, the normality of Star of the Week, hearing teachers’ voices and seeing little videos has gone such a long way in difficult times.

"I am now really loving having both my girls at home and seeing them thrive.”

Upton Heath Primary School have been utilising online learning tools Seesaw and Tapestry for home learning during the period of school closure for the majority of children, with school remaining open to provide childcare for the children of key workers.

Mrs Buckland, Maple class teacher at Upton Heath, said: “When I read Poppy’s poem, I bawled my eyes out.

"It’s so hard for the children at the moment being at home without their friends, without the routine of the school day and being restricted in where they can go.

"All I did was pop some books around for one of my pupils who’d been having a tough day. We are all having them at the moment, and the little things we do can make all the difference.”

Staff at Upton Heath have been making sure children still get to see them and hear their voices with video clips, such as one posted on Monday, April 20, on Facebook, while headteacher of Upton Heath Mr Conrad North has provided home learning advice for parents at https://www.uptonheath.cheshire.sch.uk/home-learning-advice/ .

The children of Upton Heath have taken over their school newsletter, creating the content themselves. Poppy’s newsletter will feature in the Upton Heath newsletter, out tomorrow (Friday, April 24).

Upton Heath is part of The Samara Trust, a charity based multi academy trust that formed in March 2018 and also includes Little Sutton Primary School and Clutton Primary School.