Lockdown Lessons

Every week at Farnborough Hill is a new adventure, but this week has most certainly been more so than we ever anticipated. A national lockdown is definitely the best move for national health, and the ability to drink tea during lessons is at least one silver lining in these very difficult times. Now more than ever, I am grateful to have a garden in which to enjoy the sunshine, the technology to communicate with my friends, and a legion of truly dedicated teachers who are making the best of the circumstances. It may feel very odd to have the voices of my classmates having disembodied discussions about the strength of Elizabethan foreign policy as I sit in my kitchen, but I am so thankful that we are able to continue learning together.

Other Year Groups have enjoyed some innovative lessons, taking advantage of the resources available in their homes. In Classics, there were projects on Pompeii, which comprised cakes, models and videos of garden-based explosions. The Classics pupils were also asked to invent Harry Potter inspired Latin spells and the resulting photos show just how imaginative and clever they are. In Geography, the girls were challenged to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’, and they shared their images of what they made. And, in Science, pupils studied speed by timing themselves moving in different ways across their gardens and calculating their speed. Explore our Flickr gallery (linked below) to see some of the pupils’ brilliant lockdown work. Mr McCready’s video of teaching an iPad (shared on Facebook last week) sums up other lessons perfectly while, in the Music department, members of the Senior Choir recorded themselves singing ‘Sing to You’, a fantastic topical song based on the favourite ‘Close to You’, with lyrics amended by Miss Warwick. Each recording was expertly woven together to create the final version, which you can listen to on Vimeo below.  

Wider School life continues, too, even while we are scattered, and I would like to applaud those doing their best to support our school community. Special shoutouts must go to Mrs Woods for the provision of a 'Daily Dose of Library Fun' and Mr McCready for furnishing the Upper Sixth group chat with a link to Shine Jesus Shine, in lieu of Monday Assembly! Years 7 to 11 also enjoyed a videoed assembly, recorded by our Chaplain Mrs Dalton. I have since watched it and was buoyed by the reassuring, peaceful and uplifting message contained within.

As is to be expected, I am gutted to not be taking my A levels, and my thoughts are with all those who have had their public examinations cancelled. However, we know that education is more than simply the final paper, and so for now I am working hard and enjoying learning for the sake of learning, accompanied by some bread-making and lots of reading! If prayer is something you do, please pray for our staff, NHS workers, and all those trying to keep the country going in food shops, suppliers, and other areas. This too shall pass, and its passing will owe much to these people. Stay safe and sane.

Tabitha, Head Girl

Lockdown Lessons Flickr Gallery

'Sing to You' on Vimeo