The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent time talking to children who still have to go into classes during the coronavirus pandemic. William and Kate held a video call with a primary school where youngsters whose parents are key workers are being looked after while their mums, dads and carers continue their vital roles.
The royal couple called Casterton Primary Academy in Lancashire to talk to pupils and teachers about life in lockdown. Like many schools across the UK, Casterton is still open to a restricted number of children whose parents have key jobs – including NHS workers, carers and special needs experts. Casterton is a partner school with Place2Be – the Duchess of Cambridge is that organisation’s patron.
William and Kate shared a video on April 8th of themselves chatting to several of the youngsters. They heard from Harris and Lloyd who spoke about how proud they were of their parents and who had made pictures of them doing their jobs. They also spoke to sisters Darcie and Grace who had made some Easter art during their time at school that day.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were also teased by teachers for not wearing bunny ears during the chat – unlike the staff and children who all looked Easter ready. Kate said they should have worn their rabbit ears before revealing that William had already made his way through quite a bit of the chocolate at the couple’s home ahead of Easter Sunday.
But amongst the smiles was a serious message. William and Kate thanked the staff for all their hard work in keeping the school open to allow key workers to continue in their roles while knowing that their children are well looked after.
The Duchess told teachers ”it’s great to meet the kids, it’s obvious they’re having a really fun time” while the Duke added his gratitude, saying ”we just want to say a huge thank you to you guys, and well done in keeping it all going and please pass on many messages of support for all the staff and all the volunteers, they are doing a great job”.
And Kate went on ”all the parents who are key workers, to know that their children are…the normality is there for them and they’ve got the structure and they’ve got a safe place for them to be ,so really, really well done to all of you, I know it’s not easy circumstances but it’s fantastic.”
The Duke