The Sun Will Shine on You Again

Friday 5 February 2021

As another busy week of remote learning at Glyn School concludes as February begins, it is good to see that colleagues, students and their families are well and have engaged so readily once again for Week 5 of learning at home.  

I felt compelled this week to reference two pandemic-related articles in the national press, both differing greatly in tone, yet both providing food for thought:

One mainstream newspaper ran a front page article this week referring to the current challenges facing education.  In the headline, they referred to young people being  ‘the lost generation’ due to the impact of the pandemic on schools.  I was struck by how demotivating and disenchanting this must be for young people to see themselves referred to in this way; their futures and prospects so casually written off.  Yes, we are facing unprecedented challenges across society, however, as a school, we cannot emphasise how much this view of a ‘lost generation’ is at odds with our own perspective and mission.  As a body of staff working with young people, we refuse to accept this is a generation that has been written off,  and the staff at Glyn School, both Teaching and Associate, are unashamedly and tenaciously committed to ensuring this will not be the case through both the enactment of our planned and remote curriculum, and the support and pastoral wellbeing measures we have in place for each and every young person who attends Glyn School.  The qualities of resilience, integrity and community are at the heart of Glyn School and embody both the staff and our fantastic students who have, once again, set about a week of remote learning with engagement and enthusiasm.

This brings me to the second article covered by many outlets: the sad passing of Captain Sir Tom Moore.  The values of resilience, integrity and community have been embodied by Captain Sir Tom, and while we continue to hear and see headlines that cause anxiety and concern, let us not forget that such qualities will see use through; the future, especially for young people, remains bright.  At the start of the pandemic, in April 2020, Captain Sir Tom said of the crisis, “We will get through it in the end, but it might take time but, at the end of the day, we shall all be okay again… the sun will shine on you again, and the clouds will go away.”

Have a restful weekend.

Mr Hayter, Deputy Headteacher