Schools out! Telford pupils depart with drive-through prom
Many students leaving school will have missed out on certain rites of passage like proms, but lucky pupils at a Telford school got the chance to celebrate in a unique way.
Year Six students at Priorslee Primary Academy were able to celebrate their finishing school thanks to the efforts of staff as they put together a special drive-through prom yesterday.
End of school celebrations have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown, but Jodie Cooper, Head of School at Priorslee Primary Academy decided she didn't want her students to miss out on the prom experience completely.
Having been inspired by another school which took the same approach, Jodie and the staff members organised the drive-through prom to take place on the school's very own car park at 3.30pm yesterday evening.
Speaking before the event, Jodie said she was looking forward to celebrating safely with the pupils.
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"We wanted to find a way of sending our year six class off as normally we would have a big prom and the teachers would sort everything out," she said.
"The drive through prom we have arranged will have students turning up to our car park with their family, there will be a DJ playing music and a professional photographer to take pictures of them all arriving or with their families. There will be a flower wall and balloons.
"We didn't want to leave it too long because you never know what will happen. It has been very much a team work effort from all the staff. The senior leadership team have been working hard and also Jo Hart, our business manager has been making sure everything is safe and carrying out risk assessments. That has been the biggest challenge really, making sure everyone is safe.
"We have asked pupils to come in whatever clothes makes them feel most comfortable. They will be able to have photos taken with their family or individually. We will be handing out certificates for different achievements throughout the year, as well as a little keepsake bag and a personalised hoodie.
"They will also receive a yearbook and photo book with pictures right from when they were in Reception and so small, to see how they've grown."
Jodie said they couldn't let the time pass without doing anything, and she was really proud of her team for working so hard.
She added: "The team has really worked their socks off to put this together. We just wanted to send the students off with a bang."
