Salute to the soldiers helping to keep our students Covid-safe

Members of the armed forces have been helping to support rapid onsite Covid testing in schools across Bury.

Troops from the Catterick-based 5^th Regimental Royal Artillery have been brought in to support the sites and train civilians to manage them.

Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, leader of Bury Council, visited Parrenthorn High School to see how the collaboration was working.

“Although lockdown restrictions are being eased, coronavirus is still very much with us, and the infection is being spread particularly by people who have not been vaccinated – by school students and young working age adults,” he said.

“This is why testing is so important, so we can quickly identify where there are outbreaks and clamp down on the virus spreading.

“It was a pleasure to visit Parrenthorn and see our armed forces in action, supporting our schools and the Bury community to keep safe in these unprecedented times.”

The Army’s Covid Support Force (CSF) is the UK’s largest peacetime deployment at home, and its first ever nationwide resilience operation. It is supporting schools with Lateral Flow Testing (LFT) in Bury, Oldham and Salford at the request of the local authorities, offering specialist skills in logistics, training and planning, in order to combat the spread of the virus. The majority of the soldiers come from K (HONDEGHEM) Battery and, for some, this is their third COVID deployment in the last 12 months.

Major Liam O’Grady, Battery Commander, said: “Every soldier looks forward to deploying on operations and it is a privilege to support UK operations and the general public.

“The Battery has received excellent support and been made to feel very welcome by everybody we have come into contact with across the Greater Manchester area.

“Military training teaches officers and soldiers to be adaptable and to work with what we have, and this has been especially true on the Bury task. Every school has received the same equipment to set up testing stations, the military teams bring expertise from military training and experience from other sites to a school and work with that school to develop the best testing layout possible in the space they have.

“All of the civilians we have trained have come across as very motivated and professional, they are keen to learn and support the school and students.”

Mr Chris Bell, head teacher at Parrenthorn, said: “We have worked tirelessly to ensure that pupils and staff are as safe as possible during very difficult times.

“With the ongoing, incredible support of pupils, parents, staff, governors and the local community, we are able to test pupils regularly and then support anyone who has tested positive, while being able to isolate any close contacts. This carefully planned process, working in partnership with the NHS and the council, has been imperative in striking a balance between safety and ensuring pupils have access to a strong curriculum whether in school or not.

“We have worked hard to reduce the negative impact of Covid-19 on pupils’ education. Our Remote Learning plan supports pupils working from home and enables them to access the virtual classroom via live lessons.

“Although challenging, the staff and pupils have adapted really well to the pandemic and coped admirably with all the constraints. Although our Covid plan is now embedded and part of school routine, I very much hope that we can return to some sort of normality in September.

“It was also amazing to see Cllr O’Brien and the military in school to observe the testing process. This support means a lot to our school community.”

ENDS

Press release issued: 7 July 2021.

Picture: In action at Parrenthorn – soldiers from the 5^th Regimental Royal Artillery, with council leader Eamonn O’Brien and deputy head teacher Allen Hall.