What I Learned In Lockdown

When we are able to look back on this period in our lives with some degree of equanimity, these are some of the key things that I will make sure that I remember:

An online school community can never be as good as one IRL, but it is amazing what an institution can do in extremis. Within a few days, as with many other schools, my pupils and staff had to make Teams their new ‘bestie’ and rapidly learned how to utilise the platform to have lessons, assemblies, concerts and ‘hang outs’. Although we are all desperate to be back together in September, we have all gained valuable online skills that we can certainly adapt in the future. Zoom calls are not a patch on face-to face-contact, but they make you realise that there really is no excuse not to be in touch with people you have not seen in a while, particularly those who may be struggling with personal circumstances.

Podcasts are a brilliant way of avoiding the human brain becoming atrophied. During periods when even a bookworm like me found it difficult to concentrate on extended prose, certain Radio 4 podcasts fed my weary mind, and they also provided a welcome distraction from the tedium of my exercise bike as I attempted to avoid the Corona 10 (lbs).

During my daily hour of exercise during the strict lockdown period, I increasingly appreciated the glorious beauty of the city of Durham. Even as the overgrown brambles and the nettles threatened to attack my ankles, I enjoyed the peaceful silence of the lanes and the abundance of foliage as my husband and I walked around the environs of the Cathedral, an area that is usually saturated with tourists and shoppers.

Finally, this strange period of our lives has reiterated to me that whilst human beings are capable of being selfish and venal, we are also able to be altruistic, and innovative, to come together for the common good. I sincerely hope that we have all realised this as the world wakes up to our ‘new normal’.