Holbrook Academy has used a You Tube video to send a heart-felt message to their Year 11 students after parents and pupils on the Shotley peninsula reacted with dismay at the government's decision to scrap all exams this year.

Acting deputy head teacher Phil Hart spoke of his pride of the students, the injustice they are suffering through no fault of their own and vowed they would get a Leaver Prom, in the five-minute video (linked above and full transcript at the bottom of this article).

Schools on the Shotley peninsula will be joining the rest of the country by closing to almost all students as from this afternoon for an indefinite period.

Pupils have also been told they will not sit exams in May and June as planned, including GCSEs and A-levels as well as England's primary school national curriculum tests, known as Sats.

Mr Williamson told the House of Commons: "I can confirm we will not go ahead with assessments or exams and that we will not be publishing performance tables for this academic year.

"We will work with the sector and [the exams watchdog] Ofqual to ensure children get the qualifications that they need."

Year 11 students at Holbrook Academy will attend the school for what is fully expected to be the last time, with no Leaver's event planned.

Peninsula parent are widely sharing a generic post on social media, which sums up their feelings.

The post read: 'If there's a high school 2020 leaver in your life, give them a hug.

"To them, the cancellation of school is not a holiday. It's wasted time they don't get to spend with their friends the last few months before they finish high school.

"They're anxious, realising they may never be able to walk the halls for the last time or attend their prom. They're sad hearing their prom they've been waiting on all year has a chance of being cancelled.

"The last day of high school may now be this Friday and many of their friends won't be in... a day that they have been planning for.

"They're sad that the sports seasons, events and concerts that they've practiced and prepared for, for so many years, may have come to an end before they've had the chance to take the field, court, or stage one last time.

"They don't know how or what they will be assessed on as their GCSE's are cancelled - everything they have been working hard on for many years and that they know is important for the next phase of their life. Show them support and love them during these hard times."

The Royal Hospital School in Holbrook, have instructed students to continue studying and revising as if they were still preparing for exams.

Remote learning will be in place from Monday with students expected to sign in each morning for lessons.

Chinese-owned, private boarding school, Ipswich High school, Woolverstone, has not made its position public

Shotley Community Primary school has sent a survey to parents to assess childcare needs, so staff can cater for those children.

Students and parents are still waiting for a clear, defined way that Year 11 will be assessed before going on to sixth form or college.

The latest information available is as follows:

How will children be assessed instead?

Exams watchdogs have been working together for some time to look at alternative arrangements.

These may include:

• using predicted grades
• teacher assessments
• looking at coursework
• considering other evidence of candidate performance

It is likely the exam boards and individual exams regulators across England, Wales, Scotland and

Northern Ireland will agree a uniform system to ensure comparability.

With regard to offers of university places, Universities UK - the vice-chancellors' organisation - suggested universities may honour the offers already made on the basis of predicted grades.

Some schools will be kept open with a skeleton staff to provide support for the children of key workers. A list of who this covers is to be released later today, but it is expected to include NHS staff, police and food delivery drivers.

Schools have also been asked to help those most in need - for example, children who receive free school meals and those with special educational needs or education health care plans. 

But it is not yet clear which schools will be the ones to provide these services.

The government says it's also asking nurseries and private schools to close, and will provide financial support if needed.

What does this mean for parents?

For many working parents, the closures will mean huge childcare issues (this was one of the reasons why the government delayed closures as long as possible). 

Some may need to take time off work, raising concerns that some families will struggle financially.

Full transcript of acting deputy head Phil Hart's YouTube video to Year 11.

Phil Hart

"I wanted to deliver this message face to face. I wanted to arrange a leavers day so you would have something to enjoy and take away from your time at Holbrook, just as other year 11s have but due to totally unprecedented situation, sadly that has not been possible.

"Right now, teenagers up and down the country find themselves in exactly the same boat as you and sharing the emotions you have been feeling over the past 24 hours.

"You may be feeling anxious about your GCSE results, you may be wondering where will they come from, how they will be calculated, what sort of impact will they will have? Unfortunately, right now, I don't have the answers to those questions but rest assured as soon as I do have the answers you will be the first to know, Year 11.

"I have been with you now for all five years you have been here. I saw you arrive in year seven, so small, keen and eager with huge rucksacks, much bigger than you need yet filled to the brim. I have seen you develop into the fine young upstanding young adults where see every day at Holbrook.

"If today really is the last day we get to see you I want you to know that I, and all the other teachers and tutors, will miss you.

"I know you may find that hard to believe some of you but there are things we take for granted and things we will miss. I will miss that night before your results come out as I can't sleep worrying about the results you will get. I will miss results day itself seeing you come in, ashen-face with worry, me knowing full well what's in those envelopes knowing full well you have the grades to be able to move on and succeed in the next step of your educational journey.

"I might even even miss Batiste telling me I have a skint haircut, or my car is chavvy.

"But apart from the odd verbal insult, I could not wish for a nicer bunch of young people to work with. I know that may sound like a cliché, but you guys are the reason why we teachers come in and do the job we do.

"Your teachers are feeling very similar to you. After talking with them I feel the same sense of injustice and unfairness that you are feeling.

"They know how hard you have worked, they know how ready you are to smash those exams and to prove to everybody, least of all yourselves, exactly what you are capable of and what you can achieve to have that taken away through no fault of your own is unfair.

"We have chatted many times about your hopes dreams and ambitions for the future. I don't want this situation to define your school time here or impact on what you want to do in the future. Please don't let it. Instead make the most of this time, spend time with you friends and loved ones as we move through this time of uncertainty.

"Lastly, and I know this is a key concern – you will still have a prom. I promise. It doesn't matter if we have the same venue or have to book another venue, or we by some silver and gold balloons and go crazy and decorate the school hall – you will have a prom.

"Please don't put your dresses and suits on e-bay just yet.

"You are going to have the biggest and best party so far, you deserve that ever

"Go and see your friends, teachers and say your goodbyes, in the meantime it has been an absolute pleasure, I wish you every single success in the future, go out, enjoy it and smash it. I love you all."