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A New Year, a New Lockdown!
A New Year, a New Lockdown!
Having had what will have been a very different Christmas for most of us, it is hard to think that we have now embarked upon another national lockdown. Earlier today, I was discussing how we would never had imagined virtual provision a year ago, and yet now, we seem to be well rehearsed in the approach.
However, there is no denying that the last week of the Christmas holiday was surely one of the most difficult and unexpected weeks in my professional career, planning for mass testing, then partial and whole school closure. In the last lockdown, our staff were on the front line, helping our young people navigate their way through a situation we could barely make sense of ourselves. In this lockdown, we are once again on the front line, helping our students get their head around the cancellation of GCSE’s and A Levels. It is such a hard concept to internalise. With all of this, however, I firmly believe that we need to take the positives from the situation we find ourselves in:
• The admiration of our staff and students for the way they have embraced change so quickly.
• The way in which our school community has worked together so effectively.
• The proactive approach of all our students and staff in their use of technology.
• The creativity demonstrated already by students and staff in the way they come up with new ideas and challenges.
I would like to think that we have been quick to act and slow to panic. Both in the previous lockdown and at the start of this one, it has felt like we were working in the dark. But again, from what could be considered a crisis, we have ensured that we approach our challenges with energy and passion.
There is no doubt that none of us have been in this situation before. No one has ‘the full answer’. We are all doing our best in the dark. But, to help us through what is a big challenge, I read some superb advice that I would like to share with you:
• GET SLEEP: When asked who his main competitor was, Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO of Netflix, replied: sleep. We could easily stay up for hours making plans and trying to complete the work this crisis has created and yet sleep is so, so important for us to recharge and keep perspective, especially when we are under such pressure. We have to keep clear heads and sleep is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
• WALK AWAY: Air traffic controllers are limited to 1.5 hours to 2 hours on duty before they are asked to walk away and have a break. After 1.5-2 hours on duty, the statistics show that they are less likely to pick up vital clues and information like listening to unease from pilots or pick-up confusion in their voices. Living your life online is exhausting in a whole different way – step away at regular intervals, so that you keep clarity and pick-up nuances often overlooked through tiredness.
• BUILD THE FUTURE: Jonathan Sacks, in his new book, ‘Morality’, says, “to survive tragedy and trauma, first build the future, only then, remember the past”. This is to do with having hope. Although we have the vaccine, we still do not know what the future looks like yet. We know there is one and we know our role in it will be to embrace the ‘new world’. We know that our school will exist on the other side of this and that keeping people connected to that future will bring hope. You should try to do that every day: remind those around us that you are there, that you care, that we will get through this, that they belong now and will belong then, that they are not forgotten, that they are valued and loved. Helping them see their future is important for all of us.
What we are doing is contributing to history. I know it may not feel it right now, but as long as we are all doing our best, our whole school community will be forever grateful for the way we tried to navigate collectively through this difficult time. We will get there and look back with pride!
Mrs Derrick
Headteacher
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