Staff Blog: Mrs Laming on the Corona Lessons

July 2nd 2020

What have we all learned from this experience?

We are now close to the end of our first ‘virtual’ term, and we have all probably learnt some important life lessons during this unprecedented time. I feel like this period has been something akin to childbirth. With some people experiencing a relatively pain free, life affirming time and for others it being a long, drawn out painful ordeal! As a family with two working parents, I think we have definitely experienced the full range!

There has been a lot of talk about the different waves during COVID-19. With periods of increased calm, time out and quality time with our families through to episodes of being overwhelmed with work, home- schooling, endless meal preparation/shopping and not enough personal space for anyone. Time also seems to have taken on a whole new dimension with weeks rushing past but at the same time some days, hours and minutes going incredibly and painfully slowly (this tends to be during home work - unless it involves skittles!)

Virtual lessons what’s not to like?

Looking back, I have tried think about what I want to take away from this experience. Obviously the one major element, is how many people will now work from home when possible. Reducing their carbon footprint, saving time on commuting and increasing their productivity (with the odd run/bike/exercise class thrown in). Working at a school, this isn’t an option but I feel very lucky to have been able to see the boys in their home environment. It has been great to have more interaction with the lovely Moulsford parents and occasionally be taken on a virtual tour to see the new family puppy (there have been quite a few of those!), favourite Lego sets or meet the siblings!

When we return to working at school I would like to continue having more face to face contact with parents and using technology to do that when possible. Having virtual lessons has also increased my own children’s understanding of my job. They now understand that as a speech and language therapist I help pupils with a range of skills including language, vocabulary, attention, working memory, dysfluency, processing and not just speech sounds. It has been a bit like take your child to work day but in reverse!

The less positive sides of virtual lessons have been: the technical issues, our kittens bringing in dead mice during a lesson, the odd sibling argument going on in the background (my end), and of course the endless screen time! I will also be very glad not to have to stare at my face every day over Google Classroom/Zoom for the next few weeks!

Home is where the heart is

During lockdown we have spent a great deal of time at home and this has given us time to improve our living space. Like most people we needed one more home office space, we have rearranged bedrooms, and done a lot of painting. We have had camping trips in the garden, invested in more family games. I can now almost throw a dart and hit a number I may have been aiming for!

As a family we have been on more bike rides and discovered lots more local walks, and enjoyed messing about in the river. The girls and I have rediscovered baking (and yes we have made banana bread!) Like most people in this area, we have also invested in something water orientated (everyone seems to now have a hot tub, pool, kayak, or paddleboard!) There has been a lot less rushing around to clubs after school and we have discovered some great new games – I would recommend Mexican Train.

After lockdown has ended I hope we can continue to feel thankful for the amazing place we live, our home as somewhere to enjoy rather than reside/sleep and also appreciate all of the people around us. I have dreadfully missed being on the gorgeous Moulsford grounds, the fantastic school meals and the Moulsford Community. I have also missed seeing the boys, face to face.

Wisdom of children

Children can teach us all a lot about how to live our lives and the current trend for Mindfulness is a reflection of how most of our children already live their lives. Becoming immersed in what they are doing, enjoying the feeling of the sand in their hands or the sensation of running as fast as they can. I noticed that the children very quickly adapted to the new normal and had less stress than the grown-ups around them. In a car journey we have the standard – “Are we there yet?!” every 20 seconds but during lockdown they didn’t continually ask when will this end? They seemed to accept what was happening around them quite easily (at the beginning anyway!). Children often know how to enjoy the moment and maybe that is the biggest life lesson for us all. To stop stressing about what might happen next, and enjoy the now in whatever form that might take!

However, I am now most looking forward to seeing people in the real world, as at the end of the day we all need a big hug from our friends and family from time to time.