Principal’s Blog #7

We cannot not communicate

A skeleton staffing crew, a new academy sponsor, a deep-clean, on-site support for NHS workers’ children, goggles and masks to the NHS and the care sector. A quick dispatch two weeks in to the lockdown.

What day is it?

What is the last thing that you remember before we fell into these long, uncertain days? Where were we when all this started? It’s happened so quickly. In the conversations I am having, face-to-face (from 2m away of course) and in the white noise of virtual meetings, there is a collective memory of a normal life. From these seemingly early days of society in lockdown, recent memory seems as long ago as from anything I can remember in my lifetime. Strange times for all of us. How are you doing with it?

This is usually my favourite time of year. Lighter mornings and evenings. Warmer days. The feeling that anything is possible as the planet seems to wake up, people move about with a new energy and we come out of the constraints of winter. How different this is. What is important to remember, to hold onto, is that we can retain that feeling that anything is possible. We have to. This time will pass.

Under the surface there are many positives to find should you choose to look. What can we learn in this period about ourselves and others? What do we want to be on the other side of this? I am observing many changes in people. Positive changes. Changes that will take them forward in life once we are passed this. Early lockdown has been lived in some beautiful, almost surreal spring days. Around us nature is regenerating. There is nothing to stop us doing the same. Watching or listening to the news is important but too much exposure to it will just breed fear, doubt and anxiety. In this pause I would urge all of us to reflect and think about ourselves and our relationships with others. There is a great value and positivity in this should you choose to do it. It is better than allowing worry to manifest itself. There is always a choice.

The new (for now) normal

Teachers have spent several weeks now getting materials out to students and uploading resources for them to tackle at home. It has been great to see the photos that you have sent to us. There is a real story to tell here at some point. This is not meant to be home schooling though. Home learning certainly, but not home schooling. We have had lots of feedback via out email helpdesk (Thanks Mrs Casewell and Mr Smissen). Help has certainly been a theme in there. Too much work can be overwhelming for everyone it seems. It is more a question of finding your way through things. Finding a new balance.

The best advice I can give parents, carers and our children right now with regard to home learning - Take the pressure off yourself and do not worry. It would be easy right now to bombard families with work. We are certainly not short of resources. This is not us trying to fit normal school onto the home environment though. I certainly am having to come to terms with this myself at home. We appear to be in this for the long haul and we have no frame of reference yet for putting things back together. We’ll work together and make a new map. Right now, with the information I have got, I am working through what a return to school looks like. What I am sure of though, is that it will be ok. We’ll catch up, we’ll move on and we’ll be brighter and stronger for it. Working together is key. Do your best with your work – that’s all you have to do. Don’t create a pressure on yourself that doesn’t need to be there.

Better days

Amidst the current uncertainty, we had some great news this week that shapes a better future for when we return. From 1 April we became part of the Knutsford Multi-Academy Trust group of schools. This concludes several years work attempting to find a new academy sponsor that can support our school community in achieving its ambition for our children. This is so important for us. On the other side of this, new opportunities will open up for our children, we’ll have a stronger voice and we’ll be part of a new family of schools that share our optimism, aspirations and belief that our children deserve the very best we can give them. Better days ahead.

Hope

The final perspective in this blog is a quote from the author, Rebecca Solnit, accompanied by my youngest daughter, Phoebe’s picture on our front window. I have often finished staff briefings with the occasional words of someone else and have certainly quoted Solnit before now. The words of others can give us a sense of perspective. A sense of something bigger. Retaining perspective in this moment is vital. Right now hundreds of thousands of NHS and other front line workers are giving everything to keep us safe and healthy. Whilst looking after ourselves and others we should keep them in our minds and not forget what they are doing. Keep thinking of them, supporting them and applauding them. Our message is one of hope.

‘Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency. Hope should shove you out the door… Hope is to give yourself to the future - and that commitment to the future is what makes the present inhabitable.’

(Rebecca Solnit)