Health Secretary Matt Hancock has promised to visit Brookes school, in Bury St Edmunds, in person once the pandemic is over.

The West Suffolk MP met with teachers and senior students from the independent school via Zoom on Friday, February 28.

Graham Ellis, principal and academic director at Brookes School, said: “It was a superb experience for the students and staff.

“Mrs Natalie Wilson, our history teacher, wrote to Matt a few weeks ago and he accepted her invitation to do a Zoom call with our Years 7-11.”

Staff and students asked Mr Hancock plenty of questions, including ‘what will the government be doing to tackle wellbeing and mental health due to the pandemic?’

Mr Ellis said: “He answered with great diplomacy and also with great humour!”

The chat with Mr Hancock comes at a time when hundreds of schools across the region are preparing to welcome students back into classrooms from March 8.