It hardly seems over a week since I last wrote to you to share my thoughts and musings from the week just ending. So much has happened since then and there are days when literally plans for re-opening change hourly. We are, however, getting to the point where we are able to get some sort of clarity of what this might actually look like and there are more updates to share with you on Monday when, as you know, we will be welcoming Year Leaders in to school and we can move to the next stage of development. While discussing re-opening plans and possibilities for break/lunch time physical activities (socially distanced and sporting a mask of course), I found myself catapulted back to my childhood and the games we used to play standing in a line trying to get to the wall. Clearly my subconscious was still beavering away as something I was reading triggered a different memory, only this time as a student and trying my hand at the latest craze of line dancing made oh so popular by STEPS (I have just googled the date…!) which was swiftly followed by ‘The Macarena’ and ‘Saturday Night’. I have to admit that I would definitely need rather a lot of practise before I could do many of these dances again, however I am more than willing to have a go!
Most of my day today has been spent in meetings, however the time spent away from my computer and communicating with different people has given me time to really reflect. It is often only as I sit to write my weekly epistle that I think about exactly what I am going to write about and today is no different. Earlier in the week, I came across an article in the Guardian (online rather than in a dog-eared staffroom copy) about memories and lockdown (the article is here for any of you who wish to read it: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/29/lockdown-distorting-memories-daily-landmarks-brains-false-memories) and I knew I would share it. However, that is only one piece of what I wanted to say.
Today’s reflections have made me think about the journey we began back in January when we said goodbye for the CNY holidays, completely oblivious to what was about to happen. During two different meetings today, the discussion has led me to ponder over what we have learned (a potentially unquantifiable amount) and it really hit home just how far we have come and that we must not lose sight of that. We are about to embark on the next leg of the journey and we need to face it with excitement and positivity. The school experience will be completely different in so many ways, however the relationships we have and the connections we have made will still be there. We just need to focus on the next and embrace it with open arms and it was during my final ‘meeting’ that I said that we have such great staff and that I couldn’t have done it alone. I hope that my messages have already portrayed this sentiment, however just in case I have recorded a very short message to you all here: (link removed for security reasons).
To those of you who have emailed me in the last 48 hours, thank you and I will respond, I am just wading through my ever-increasing inbox and hope to catch up over the weekend.
Once again, thank you and have a lovely weekend.
Comments