... Lessons From Lockdown

When you think back to your first days in lockdown, what were some of your fears, your worries, your hopes? I wonder if you are the same person now that you were at the beginning of all this? What has changed about who you are and how you view the world? 

I imagine you haven’t really had an opportunity to slow down enough to think about these bigger questions, but it’s working through such questions that will help us to grow and improve as human beings through this period of time.

This pandemic has disproportionately impacted different groups of people, and some young people across the country will have experienced significant learning loss. At the same time, some previously over-scheduled and sleep-deprived young people are surprised to find more time for sleep, less stress around completing schoolwork and fitting everything in to their packed days, and more time for simple activities like reading, spending time outdoors or having meals as a family, without the daily commute to school.

We need to try to see this time in lockdown as a “glorious interruption”! Looking at it through a positive lens means we have the ability to see possibility, even in the difficulty. If you have been spending your time in lockdown waiting desperately to get out of it, you will have missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for personal growth and development. Our teachers and pupils have developed new skills which they will take with them back into the more traditional school environment, hopefully in September. We have all become more adaptable, more creative, more resilient over the last three months. Some of the creativity displayed by the children in their learning has blown me away, as they have had time to develop ideas outside of their lessons and follow their passion. The learning that they have done and the knowledge and skills they have gained, no-one can take away from them. 

A person is not just made in a crisis, they are revealed in a crisis. How did I respond to this crisis? Was I able to view it as a glorious interruption? Did I discover anything about myself and my situation – the why, behind the what? Have I been the best person I could be throughout this time? Did I keep loving others, looking outside of me, rather than inwards? 

We were made for community but intimacy requires proximity, and whilst we have more opportunities than ever to connect with others, never before have there been so many isolated people. We can hide behind a screen and create digital personas, hiding our real personalities and dysfunctions instead of being authentic.  We were created for community and one to one interactions, and so we struggle with isolation and the detachment that it creates. The relaxing of the lockdown rules that now allows children to meet with their friends in a socially distant way will make a massive difference to so many, because however you dress it up “HouseParty” and WhatsApp video groups can’t replace being physically present with someone when you’re talking with them.

Many people have felt anxious either during lockdown, or at the thought of coming out of lockdown. We can focus on the “I” in anxious or we can focus on the “us” at the end of “anxious”. By shifting to the “us” we remember we are not going through this alone.  We take ourselves out of the centre and look for opportunities to help and serve others, and to get support from them.

 So, what have I learnt through lockdown?

I’ve learnt that exercise and creativity costs nothing.

I’ve learnt we don’t need to see each other physically to stay in touch, but that we were made for community.

I’ve learnt that young people are remarkably adaptable and resilient, and embrace challenge if we help them to view it positively.

I’ve learnt that it’s all too easy to take for granted how other people might be dealing with something, and more than ever I need to be a leader who empathises, supports and encourages my colleagues.

How will our return to school be shaped by the experience of lockdown and what we have made of it? Our school can be an even better place if we all play our part to make it so. The first steps will undoubtedly be the hardest but we will become an even more caring community, one which actively looks out for those around us and offers support and comfort, as well as providing stretch, challenge and a desire to learn.

At this stage, none of us knows what September will bring, but whatever it is we will make it work to the very best of our abilities, by all pulling in the same direction and supporting each other, as we have done over the last 3 months.