The Coronavirus Appeal: Merchant Taylors' Oxfordshire Academy Trust
14 May 2020
The two schools in the Merchant Taylors’ Oxfordshire Academy Trust needed help for some of their most vulnerable and disadvantaged students.
Many children and young people are struggling with the demands of lockdown. As students, they face difficulties with accessing online resources and the lack of classroom learning, as well as the mental health impact of isolation. For all too many, there is the additional harsh reality of their families struggling at this time; relying on food banks and without access to services or support networks when they need it most.
The Merchant Taylors' Foundation awarded a grant to Merchant Taylors' Oxfordshire Academy Trust for Summer Schools to help vulnerable students get back up-to-speed for the new academic year. It's a vital opportunity for students to re-focus on their education and their futures after an exceptionally turbulent time.
The schools’ Heads – Fin Lewis at Brightwell-cum-Sotwell CofE Primary and John Marston at Wallingford – passed on their thanks to those who gave to the Coronavirus Appeal:
”“The lockdown has brought into stark relief the reality of life for some of our students and how it contrasts with those of so many of their peers in a leafy Oxfordshire town by the Thames. That reality can mean a reliance on food banks or free school meal vouchers, anxieties about falling behind with school work and knocks to already fragile mental health. So we are hugely grateful to The Merchant Taylors’ Foundation, whose grant will enable us to run Summer Schools designed especially for those students – with plenty of teaching and learning but also activities to build and support their confidence and wellbeing. Thank you.”
