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RGS We Care: one year on

 

On 23 March 2020, the UK went into the first lockdown. As the nation comes together to reflect on the events of the past year, we want to thank our Reigatian community for your support.

Last March, we could never imagine what lay ahead. While many of us will have faced grief, despair or numerous other challenges, there have also been many positive acts of generosity and kindness. The sense of community has never been stronger.

We want to pay tribute to all Reigatians:

  • to those who have worked tirelessly on the front line throughout the pandemic – our incredible RGS Heroes
  • the parents thrown into home-schooling
  • our incredible teachers who found creative ways to make online learning engaging
  • everyone who has stayed at home, however isolating that has been
  • to those who responded to appeals for donations of food, nappies, stationery, school uniform and money
  • RGS support staff, including the amazing Estates team and cleaners, who made the site Covid-secure for current students and colleagues
  • the many volunteers who have delivered shopping, prescriptions and pulse oximeters and banked cheques; and more recently those who helped with the Covid testing efforts
  • to those who have phoned friends and family with words of support or checked on a neighbour
  • we also pay tribute to the many people who have lost loved ones, including many in the Reigatian community

 

“At the worst of times, I saw the best of people and was proud, yet again, to be a member of the Reigatian community.” Shaun Fenton, Headmaster

 

RGS We Care: month-by-month

March
2020 
  • RGS We Care launched to offer support to the community  
  • Volunteers began delivering shopping and prescriptions 
  • All pupils wrote letters to elderly residents of local care homes and to those in the Reigatian community 
  • RGS front-line heroes were celebrated via social media  
  • Remote learning began. The school remained open to vulnerable students and the children of key workers 

April
2020 

  • The Design Technology department began manufacturing visors 
  • RGS started distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals and care homes 
  • The RGS playground became a drop-off point for a Foodbank collection in partnership with Loveworks 
  • Fortnightly e-newsletters began to inform and help Reigatians feel less isolated 
  • The RGS Foundation wrote to, and phoned, older and more vulnerable Reigatians to offer support 

May
2020 

  • The Reigatian community celebrated Founder’s Day and marked the 75th anniversary of VE Day 
  • The PE department shared a video with Age Concern showing how to exercise in a chair, to be shared with their community 
June
2020 
  • In response to an appeal by local charity, Stripey Stork, Reigatians donated more than 2,000 nappies and almost 5,000 items of stationery for families in need 

July
2020 

  • The RGS Foundation launched the Nightingale Fund 

August
2020 

  • First Nightingale Fund Sixth Form medics bursary place was awarded to Loyce O 
  • 77 Reigatians ordered NIGHTINGALE beer, raising £3,770 for the Nightingale Fund 
  • The RGS Estates team and cleaning staff worked tirelessly to make the school Covid-safe 

September
2020 

  • School reopened 
  • Reigatian community donated £144,907 towards the Nightingale Fund through the Nightingale Giving Day 

October
2020 

  • 42 Reigatians played at the charity golf day, raising over £5,000 for the Nightingale Fund 

November
2020 

  • Second Foodbank collection in partnership with Loveworks 
  • The Remembrance Day service was shared virtually with the whole community

December
2020 

  • The Carols by Candlelight event was shared virtually
  • Food collection for Christmas dinners – in partnership with Loveworks 
  • All year groups wrote cards to the residents of local care homes, the nurses at East Surrey Hospital, the police at Reigate Police Station and the staff at East Surrey MacMillan Cancer Support 
  • The Music department held live Zoom sessions with Beaumont Care Home and Wray Common Nursing Home, in which members of the Fourth and Sixth Form chatted to residents and performed music 

January
2021 

  • Remote learning resumed 
  • RGS minibuses and volunteers helped take local people over the age of 80 to vaccination appointments 
  • Covid testing began for the children of critical workers and for staff across RGS, RSM and Chinthurst Schools 

February
2021 

  • In partnership with Vegilantesover 4,000 meals were delivered to families in need for February half term to help combat holiday hunger 
  • Third Foodbank collection – in partnership with Loveworks 
  • Over 200 volunteers offered to deliver Pulse Oximeters to local Covid patients – in partnership with NHS Heartlands Clinical Commissioning Group 
March
2021 
  • In partnership with Stripey Stork, over 250 items of school uniform were donated to families in need 
  • School reopened 
  • Nightingale Fund face masks went on sale 
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