On what should have been the last day of term for Year 11, the school buildings stand practically deserted. The bell still rings, but nobody changes classrooms. There are no laughing students scribbling on one another’s shirts, there is no leavers’ assembly, no “surprise” fire alarm.

The only teaching going on is with the small key-worker “bubble groups”, which are confined to one area of the humanities block.

This year, school ended on a different note for Year 11. There was no prom. There were no tearful goodbyes. Not even the exams that they had been preparing for since they started school as four-year-olds.

Next week, GCSE results will be released and students will have the opportunity to finally see what their hard work has earned them. As they reflect on their time at school, many will be thinking about the teachers who helped them along the way.

After being unable to say goodbye to those teachers in person, some Year 11 students have shared letters with Tes to express what they are feeling. Here’s what they had to say.

‘You’ve helped all of us - more than you’d know’

Dear teachers and staff at Farlingaye High School,

Even though our Year 11 ended earlier than anyone could expect, our heads of year, Mr Macdonald and Ms Mardle, tried their hardest to make it just as special as it would have been.

So I would like to say a big thank you to all of you. It’s been things like the video Mr Macdonald made featuring our year group and school staff. It’s also the little things - hearing about the extras of what was going on in Mr Macdonald’s life that he emailed out to everyone. These funny stories and anecdotes always made me and my friends smile - even though the emails were often addressing heavy issues surrounding the current situation.

I’d also like to say thank you to Ms Deparis, my drama teacher. She picked up our class halfway through the year without knowing our personalities or how we mesh together as performers - and still she gave us invaluable advice. Our scripted pieces unfortunately never got to be performed, but she was reassuring and helpful at a time when most of us were anxious about the change of teacher so close to exams.

Finally, I’d like to say thank you to all of my teachers because you have all helped all of us - often more than you would know.

We are lucky to have had teachers at our school who have given their help and support over the years. Ms Mason has been a real encouragement and has always seen potential in students and pushed us to do our best.

This year has been a rollercoaster - but, in many ways, so have our other years in school. Looking back, we can see how our teachers have helped us gain confidence in our abilities, as well as showing us how to manage our mental health.

What has made the difference has been those teachers who were always willing to listen and do their best to help with whatever crazy situation we brought to them - and I must say there were some strange ones.

Because of your help and support, we felt safe. Thank you, all of you.

Maisie Gill-Muttitt and Neave Matthews
Farlingaye High School, Suffolk

‘I will miss you so much’

Dear Rowdeford School,

Thank you for having me. It felt like a third home.

Thank you for sayings “smelly socks” when I was sad.

Thank you for the merit trips.

Thank you for the lessons.

Thank you to Ms T and Ms B for the football club.

Thank you to Mr B for making me laugh when he said “and also”.

Thank you to my friend Alec for helping me to ice-skate.

Thank you to my other friend Ethan for making me laugh.

Thank you for taking me on my first school trip to Pencelli.

Thank you for the sponsored walks and the summer fairs.

I WILL MISS YOU SO MUCH when I leave

Yours sincerely,

Louis T
Rowdeford School, Wiltshire

‘School has taught me to be braver’

Dear KS,

As much as I wish I did not have to end my journey here, I’m still glad that I am able to take so much from these five years of experience this school has given me.

I have so many memories that will forever stay with me, and life lessons that will not be forgotten. Never have I felt that I am not listened to, and that there is no one there for me - because there always has been.

Whether it was the teachers or the students, they have always given me the support that I needed. Since coming to this school, I managed to grow so much, and it saddens me how quickly it has gone by. But I am thankful that I was given the opportunity to meet so many crazy people. Some I will really miss.

I thank the school for teaching me so much and helping me to overcome some of my fears. School has taught me to be braver, and allowed me to take on risks - and I am glad I did, even though maybe sometimes it didn’t always go as planned!

We can all make mistakes, right? I have learned from a lot of my mistakes, and maybe there are still some yet to learn from. But if there was nothing else to motivate me, this school would be the reason why I am still motivated. I’m sure I would’ve given up at some point if I didn’t have that little reminder saying, “You can do it!”

I am going to miss this school, the memories and a lot of the people here. It’s difficult to say goodbye when there are so many things that I don’t want to let go of.

I hope you can forgive me, if I did give you a hard time at any point. But thank you to the school for being there for me, and supporting me along the way. I wouldn’t say that I am great, but being a part of this school has made me feel special.

Special thanks to the teachers who always taught me more and more every day and made me feel safe and listened to.

So one last thank you for accompanying me throughout this one weird, adventurous journey, and goodbye. :)

Salvina Zahir
King Solomon School, London

‘They were there to support us whenever we needed it’

To all the teachers and staff at William Howard School,

I am writing to thank all of the teachers across my five years at William Howard who have made my journey unique, adventurous and positively challenging. My time at William Howard has allowed me to improve myself as a student, but also to grow as a person outside of school.

The morals that the teachers enforced across my time at William Howard allowed me to improve my mindset and attitude to challenges I face in everyday life. By doing this, I feel as if it has prepared me for the future inside and outside of my career.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank three people in particular: Ms Cockburn, who has been my form tutor and mentor for five years, from Year 7 to Year 11. She has helped me not only in form but also being my French teacher. Whenever I needed help with anything, she was happy to do so. Ms Ledger and Mrs Mingotti have been our year group manager and director of learning since Year 8. They have been there to support all of us whenever we needed it.

They also provided us with opportunities to improve our career skills, and gave us opportunities and experiences that helped us to improve leadership and team-working skills, too.

Thank you to everyone for my time at William Howard,

Graham Petry
William Howard School, Cumbria

‘I went from bottom set to top set’

Dear teachers and staff of The Hewett Academy,

The teacher who I would like to thank is Mr Goodwin, my geography teacher. When I started school, I didn’t really enjoy geography. I didn’t think it was an interesting subject, and I achieved low grades in my reports.

This changed in Year 11 when I realised I needed to pick things up. And when I started to work harder, I found that I began to really like it. I went from bottom set to top set in the space of one topic on rivers and coasts!

And that was when I met Mr Goodwin. He welcomed me into his set and always challenged me. He has a unique style of teaching that worked well for me. He is a very helpful teacher, meaning that if I had any issues or concerns, he’d only ever be an email away.

From the point of view of me, a student, I could see the effort that he put into the Year 11 course was phenomenal. He spent lots of time creating homework and revision booklets for each topic, and planning lessons. I am grateful for everything he has done.

Mr Goodwin helped push me from a low grade to a top grade in the March mock exams. He has inspired me to take the subject further, and geography is one of the A levels that I plan to do at sixth form. I am thankful to Mr Goodwin for all his hard work and for helping me to achieve amazing grades.

Jacob Brown
The Hewett Academy, Inspiration Trust, Norwich

‘We had opportunities that couldn’t be found elsewhere’

To all SGS staff,

I wish to thank Skegness Grammar for filling my experience at the school with opportunities that could not be found elsewhere. These have allowed me to grow and learn new skills, while also opening new doors for potential future careers and interests.

I also want to thank all the Skegness Grammar staff who work tirelessly to ensure each child is allowed to reach their full potential. It is you who help to mould well-rounded, confident young adults. Moving forward towards A levels is much less intimidating with such a supportive team of professionals. You are leading examples when it comes to having positive mental attitudes, which helped us all to deal with the unforeseen circumstances of this year.

Jess Ward
On behalf of Year 11 at Skegness Grammar School, Lincolnshire

‘I thank my teachers for all the times they made us laugh’

Dear Coopers’ School,

Because of the coronavirus, the academic school year has been forced to end abruptly, and it was a complete shock to all of us. Instead of the planned end-of-year activities, we gained three gifts: time, stress and boredom.

The fact that we haven’t been given the chance to complete our exams and that we have been waiting, feeling clueless, has caused stress for some. We have all been waiting on the edge of our seats for 20 August to arrive. It isn’t just that we didn’t get a chance to sit our exams, it is more the feeling that our future is out of our hands.

However, we all have faith. We know that our teachers will do the best they can to help us reach our true potential.

I would like to thank my teachers for all the work they have helped me with, and not only the teachers who taught me, but also all of the people inside and outside of school who have helped me in many ways.

And I thank my teachers for all the times they made us laugh - like the time we were travelling back from Germany, and they started singing over the credits to Mamma Mia!. They somehow made an eight-hour coach journey bearable.

Stanley Healey
The Coopers’ Company and Coborn School, Upminster, East London

‘You inspired me to enjoy learning’

Dear teachers,

I’d like to start with a general “thank you”, because now we’re here, at the end, I can see that I wouldn’t have been able to achieve so much without your support.

You always put students before yourselves, which only highlights the amount of effort you invest into our learning. The long nights and stressful meetings you go through to help us reach our goals is appreciated and really incredible. Being a teacher can’t be easy and it requires sacrifices. However, it shows your dedication and care for us. This makes us students feel calmer, which has been vital during the coronavirus pandemic.

Not only were you there to teach us, you were also there to give us help and guidance when we needed it. The simple “my door is always open” has made a real difference. It allowed me to resolve my problems and to feel more comfortable, especially in Year 11, when things were more stressful.

Throughout my time at Cathedral Academy, I would constantly hear from my teachers that hard work pays off. At a specific moment during this difficult situation that everyone is in, I felt as if I was going to renounce what you, my teachers, always said. With the GCSE examinations being cancelled, I thought that all my hard work was for nothing, but that didn’t last long. You inspired me to enjoy learning, which resulted in new passions that I will carry on within college. When we felt a little downhearted, you reminded us that our hard work will pay off soon. This is exclusively down to you advancing us in education and giving us better prospects for our futures. Everyone felt comforted and, to an extent, relieved, which again proves that you are amazing.

Thank you for all of your hard work that you have put in. It really has been invaluable. Words cannot express how hugely you have influenced my life for the past couple of years. I really do appreciate it.

I will never forget you.

Kinga Malis
Cathedral Academy, Wakefield, West Yorkshire

This article originally appeared in the 14 August 2020 issue