"Covid stones" display at Keith Primary School turned into permanent feature
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A DISPLAY of stones at Keith Primary School put in place during lockdown has been made permanent thanks to the help of a parent.
At the start of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown in 2020, pupils and members of the school community decorated stones and left them outside the wall of Keith Nursery.
Now, 18 months on, the stones have been turned into a permanent feature – thanks to parent Michael Craig – and will act as a reminder of the impact of the coronavirus lockdown for the children.
Keith Primary School deputy head teacher Suzanne Ross said: "The Covid stones came about during lockdown but as times marches on and normality resumes, we thought it would be lovely to make them a more permanent feature.
"Mr Craig, a local builder and parent, kindly agreed to do the necessary work for the feature as a favour to the school and for this we are truly grateful.
"We are very thankful to him for donating his time to do this, we think it looks great and the children are chuffed with it.
"It's a cheery sight but also a reminder of the uncertain times we were in during the initial lockdown. There are lots of positive messages on the stones so we can remember the good things about lockdown as well as the bad."
The school hopes to add a plaque beside the feature, made up of poems written by pupils during lockdown. Those who wrote the poems are Seth Malcolm, Oliver Merson and Millie Angus (all now P7) and Alfie Shand (P5).
The poem is called "Lockdown 2020: Covid 19 – Painted Stones" and follows.
"To all you lovely people, we would like to say hello,
We can’t do this in person, because Covid has said no.
A virus came, it changed our life.
It grew and grew, it just went rife!
Friends and family we missed so dearly,
How important they are - we now see clearly.
Home-schooling had some of us annoyed and stressed,
But we all did try to do our best.
No school, no parks, no playing with friends,
We all just wondered when it would end.
When we look back in years to come,
There will be stories of all the fun.
Heartache, pain and hearts were empty,
In the year of lockdown 2020.
We have all stayed safe and followed the rules,
To disobey would have made us fools.
We can now see the end of restrictions in sight,
We are slowly but surely winning the fight.
The sun will shine in summertime; we can play outside until late,
With loved ones, friends and family – no more let’s just wait."
