Shelved

Tap….

…multiplied by at least 50,000 this week. That’s the noise made as I tap on whatever device I have available, whether it be my laptop, iPad, my phone. As a teacher in a Scottish School, it’s probably safe to say, with a hint of understatement, that this week has been a bit different.

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing the week before (one minute we were working in school, the next working from home) we found out at 7pm on Sunday 22nd March that the schools would indeed be closed to all staff and pupils. With a pregnant wife and son at home, it felt like the right decision personally, even though it meant classes across the country taking place in chatrooms rather than classrooms. As my class of P4s had been on Glow and Teams all year, using these online platforms wasn’t such a massive culture shock as it could have been. But the situation was still completely alien. Learning remotely, at home, with a teacher and peers you couldn’t see. I tried my very best not to sound like Mother speaking to Dallas in the film, Alien, when recording my daily class message.

The alien theme continued when the Prime Minister announced on Tuesday that he was placing the country into lockdown. A curious place, usually spotted in big budget Hollywood films, where you can cram into a tube train but you can’t drive.

It’s been a week where every single person across the country has learnt something. About themselves, about their kids, their teachers, remote learning, or about virus control. Why does it take a national emergency for us to take learning seriously?

With all that in mind, life has been well and truly shelved for the time being. So I spent my day away from the keyboard talking to Bernie. Building shelves.