Tonight's #ClapForCarers should also be dedicated to frontline school and college staff, the principal of a college and academy trust has urged. 

Marion Plant, principal and chief executive of North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College and chief executive of the Midland Academies Trust, has taken to social media to urge the public to say thank you to the education sector. 

The college and four schools she leads have remained open amid the coronavirus pandemic and are currently operating from one site, with a significant number of children and young people attending every day. 

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Amazing staff

In her post, she said: "Tonight we will rightly applaud our amazing NHS and social care staff. My pan lids are ready for some more action. I shall also be applauding all those teachers and education support staff – right across the country – who have stepped forward to support the children and young adults of key workers and for those who are most vulnerable in our society."

She added their work was "quite literally a ‘lifeline’ to youngsters, many of whom find themselves in desperate situations". "Please join me in giving all these people a richly-deserved, big, shout-out tonight."

Ms Plant told Tes: "The staff that are on the day-to-day rota are putting their health at risk – maybe not in the same way as those in the NHS, but they are, and they are giving up a lot. Their commitment is astounding."

She said she had been sad that messages of thank you did not generally include education staff. "I am living it day to day with my team, who are not asking for thanks, but are going to extraordinary lengths."