If someone told me last year that all schools are going to shut, all restaurants are going to shut, all cinemas are going to shut, and most shops are going to shut, I honestly would have thought someone was telling me a joke….
But no, here we are, 5 weeks into the lockdown in the UK and, as yet, there is no sign of life returning to normal…whatever the new normal might be.
School closed abruptly on Friday 20th March. We emptied our trays, brought home any games kits and said goodbye to our teachers. Initially, I thought this is going to be awesome… no schoolwork to do and no early morning running for the school bus. Every child dreams of having lie-ins and easy chill out days. And yes, at the beginning, we did do just that.
We had booked to go away on holiday to Tenerife at Easter time - I was really looking forward to it. But just like everyone else in the land, all foreign travel was cancelled. Our Easter Scout Camp to Loch Tay was also cancelled.
After the two-week break from school, we returned to the classroom. But not our normal classroom. This new classroom was set up online, and we access it every day from home. I use Zoom meetings to link up with my teacher and classmates, and also have my saxophone music lessons once a week using the same technology. Work is submitted and it’s marked virtually.
But, as time has gone on, I miss everything about school. I miss the structure of lessons, I miss having a laugh with my friends at lunch time, playing rugby on the astros. I miss choir and games, ICT and science.
On the upside, I’ve learnt a lot too - I’ve learnt to be disciplined and stick to the timetable. I’ve learnt that, as a family, we all enjoy playing card games and board games. It’s also been good to slow down and not to be rushing around doing lots of different activities here, there and everywhere.
My parents asked me to keep a diary of my time during lockdown, as we are essentially now a part of history. When I’m a Grandad, I want to be able to tell my grandchildren how the lockdown affected me…. hopefully the positives will help me become a stronger more understanding individual.
