Boris Johnson has sent personal thanks to a deputy headteacher as part of a video thanking public sector workers for their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A video posted by the prime minister on Twitter this afternoon shows Vicky Linke, deputy head at Chesterton Primary School, in Wandsworth, south-west London, receiving a message from him.

In it, the prime minister says: “Hi Vicky, it’s Boris here. I just wanted to say a massive thank-you to you, as a teacher, for everything you are doing in Chesterton and have been doing throughout this pandemic.”

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Thank you Vicky, Emma and Hollie, and to all the public servants who make such a vital contribution to our country. pic.twitter.com/gCISIp31bD

- UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) July 28, 2020

Ms Linke said in the video: “Teaching is much more than delivering a lesson, it’s about building relationships with families and being there for families and for children and each other in the rough times and the smooth times as well.

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“So we have been open throughout the pandemic to vulnerable children and to key worker families as well. So we have had to make sure that wherever our children are, they’re receiving the best education possible.”

The prime minister adds: “We are putting in all kinds of efforts and measures and funding to allow children to catch up, but I also know that it’s thanks to the hard work of teachers that our pupils will be able to recover and make up for the lost time.”

The video also contains messages of thanks to a policewoman and a nursing student, along with statements about the government’s actions during the pandemic.