The last day of primary school is always a big event for Year 6 leavers. It is a chance for children to reflect on how far they have come, to express their thanks to the teachers who have helped them along the way, and to say goodbye to their friends. 

Most importantly, it is a chance to break out the marker pens and draw on one another’s shirts without being told off for it.

But this year, Year 6 students will not be able to celebrate in the same ways that their peers in previous years have done, due to measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

This doesn’t mean that Year 6 don’t still deserve a proper send-off, though. So what are schools doing to mark the occasion? We asked teachers on Twitter what they have planned.

Here are five ideas for socially-distanced Year 6 leavers’ dos.

1. School shirt transfers

Getting classmates to sign a school shirt is a great way to create a special keepsake from children’s time at primary school. 

However, in the current circumstances, shirt-signing would create a nightmare of pen-sharing and sloppy hand-gel application.

As a way around the problem, staff at St Gregory CEVC Primary School in Sudbury, Suffolk came up with the idea of creating iron-on transfers of children’s signatures, which could then be used to decorate school shirts. 

The process for this was very simple, says Daniel Woodrow, the school’s headteacher.

“We just ordered special t-shirt transfer paper, printed onto it and one of our lovely LSAs ironed them all on for the children,” he explains. 

2. Virtual yearbook

Woodrow’s school have also decided to create a virtual edition of their annual yearbook for school leavers, to avoid issues with printing companies and having to touch physical books.

Each pupil was asked to share a favourite memory of their time at primary school, write a message to their class and contribute a photo of themselves on their first day at school. 

A teacher and Sendco at a primary school in Kent says that Year 6 staff at her school have organised something similar.

“For their yearbooks, they all wrote their memories whilst not at school and this has been organised online - teachers would usually sign these too but we’re putting our memories/messages on stickers and the Year 6 teacher will stick them into each child’s book,” she says.

3. Socially-distanced dancing

The school disco is another leavers’ day classic, and while social distancing might not be a problem if your Year 6 are the type to split into a group of boys and a group of girls, who then stand at opposite ends of the hall ignoring one another, it still takes some of the fun out of the experience if you aren’t even able to hug your friends.

But dancing can still be enjoyable, even if you have to maintain your distance. Several schools have told us they are planning socially-distanced outdoor discos to minimise risk (weather permitting). 

Other schools are opting to take their annual school production online this year. For example, a junior school that is part of the British School of the Netherlands have organised a production of High School Musical, which they are filming to share online.

While students are not required to remain apart in the Netherlands, school staff still have to keep their distance.

“We decided on our Year 6 end of year production before school closed and still wanted our Year 6 children to perform in some form or another,” says Chris Wathern, headteacher at the school.

“Unfortunately, we aren’t able to perform in front of a live audience as we usually would. However, it has made us more innovative, and so in between other curricular lessons, we’ve been filming the various scenes.

“In some ways, the finished product is even better than we set out to achieve and one that forms an important keepsake for our Year 6 students. We will be sharing the film with our whole school community.” 

Our #BSNY6 teachers at @BSNJSD are recording their production of #HighSchoolMusical. Luckily over here, in the Netherlands, primary students (but not their teachers, of course) are exempt from the 1.5 meter rule https://t.co/uBN73wRyFk

- British School (BSN) (@BSNetherlands) June 25, 2020

4. Leavers’ parade

A parade is an easy way to celebrate while maintaining that ideal two metres of distance. 

One member of senior leadership at a junior school explains that her team are planning to go ahead with their annual ritual of a leavers’ “parade”, making tweaks to allow for social distancing.

“Every year, we all meet in the school hall with the parents out on the playground. We go out on to the playground in year group order and make a tunnel. The Year 6 children then walk down the tunnel (our end of year award winners go first) and we all cheer. 

“When Year 6 have gone through, the line starts to turn into the tunnel and each Year group goes through. To be honest, by the time we get to Year 3, the lines all collapse but it’s part of the charm!” 

Staff and families then have a chance to mingle on the playground and say their farewells.

“It’s very emotional but a lovely way to say goodbye. This year we are going to still try to do it, just further apart. Luckily we have a huge school field (we are a very lucky school) so fingers crossed we can manage it,” she says.

5. Video sports day

Another end-of-school staple that is getting a social-distancing revamp is the school sports day. 

Tom Lindsey, an assistant headteacher at a school in London explains how his school’s sports day will have “a very different look” this year.

“Keyworker school will have their own separate event, rather than having year groups together,” he says. “In addition, on the track, the Year 6s will only compete against their own bubbles. We’ve been having whole-class (two-bubble) playtime so they’ll also get a rounders match against their opposite bubble and a golf tournament.”

Of course, crowds of spectators can’t be welcomed onto the school field, but the school is planning to video the events and share these via Twitter and Instagram, so that parents and children who aren’t able to attend can still follow all the excitement.

The sports day is just one of a whole list of activities the school are organising for Year 6, including live-streamed concerts, a virtual leavers’ assembly and a summer picnic. 

Making sure that they organised something special was important, says Lindsey, as this year’s cohort have missed out on a lot.

“I feel dreadfully sorry for this lot. First time I’ve ever heard any child say that Year 5 was the best year. They’ve missed out on all the rites of passage,” he says.

“Usually it’d be the first night of our production tonight. It’s held at a local theatre with audiences of 300 plus on two consecutive nights. It’s such an amazing experience. We’ve made videos which bring the bubbles together and will send them out, but they don’t even come close, really. We are trying to make it special but without the planning time and with so much uncertainty and other organisation to achieve, it has been difficult.”

Woodrow agrees that it has been challenging, but says there has been a real drive to mark the occasion for these Year 6 pupils, who have already been through so much disruption, and to make sure they are sent off “in style”.

“They’re like family in a way and we all want to give them as many happy memories as possible, now more than ever,” he says