Lessons from lockdown

Claire Murdoch, Headteacher of Faraday Prep School, gives her top five tips for surviving lockdown, no matter which side of the Zoom call you’re on.

I am constantly amazed by the ability of staff and children to adapt. From becoming unlikely YouTube stars to performing drama online, competition in national sports challenges and dressing to express in celebration of Children’s Mental Health, this has been a year that has tested, stretched and challenged us all and I couldn’t be more proud of how my school has responded.

Whilst we are all delighted to be back in the classroom and exceptionally proud of our Year 6s and their excellent senior school results, there are a few takeaways from a period of remote learning that I think it is only fair to share…

Stay in control of the mute button

The highlight of our week whilst teaching remotely was the whole school Zoom assembly, where we had a chance to all be together and see what everyone has been learning throughout the week. These golden half hours never failed to amuse, delight and impress us, as children were able to show, share and discuss the week’s topics. It was just one week when I’d decided everyone should be free to unmute themselves at will. Bad idea. It turns out, children in a lockdown are all very keen to share and their enthusiasm can escalate when given the chance!

Unleash your inner YouTuber

Some of our younger members of staff, embraced the chance to make tutorial videos online and before we knew it we had weekly Italian, Musical Theatre, Sports and Arts to run alongside our usual lessons. We had inadvertently made YouTube stars of all of them and the online sessions by lesser-known teachers, even celebrities like Joe Wicks, just weren’t the same anymore. The children wanted to see their teachers lead these sessions and to continue with all their extra-curricular pursuits, and they were right to, so soon these Faraday Extras were a staple of our remote programme.

Close the door

When working from home, you never know who else is in the house and what might be going on around you as your concentrate on your live lesson. I think we all have a funny story or mishap we can recall and they do sum up the time we’ve been in lockdown. But having these common tales has also helped to tie the community together. We’ve all let learning into our households over this period, and as much as it has been a learning curve for the children, it’s been equally ambitious a change for teachers and parents. We’ve built trust, understanding and respect through this testing time and that is something we will continue to value going forward.

I am not a cat

After the family Zoom quiz night, remember to change your settings before the next morning’s history lesson. That Hawaiian background is less appropriate for the classroom and will only mean you have children joining you from weird and wonderful worlds for the remainder of the day. We’ve become pros at Zoom and all its many features. Some of which have been so fantastic – Break Out Rooms, for example, have been a wonderful way for the children to work in small groups, study together and collaborate on their work. Giving the children a chance to experiment and try things out, whilst keeping tight on the rules in the live lessons has helped us to channel the children’s enthusiasm into their learning.

Community and creative collaborations

Here at Faraday, we have always placed great value on learning together, collaborating and working as a community. And for this reason I was sceptical about whether we could maintain our close-knit and Faraday Family ethos online. But as it turns out, you can. This year, we have dived further into our local area, working with artists and entrepreneurs on our doorstep to continue to offer the children exciting, new and inspiring events and activities despite the restrictions.

The first exciting visitor to knock on our door was local poet, Hussain Manawer, with a film in support of Marcus Rashford’s promotion of school breakfast clubs and his subsequent visit and talk at the school, judging and presenting our winning class with their award.

Next came, the wonderful animator, Tim Allen, making a lockdown film with faraday families and subsequent workshops at the school on how to create stop animation.

Another highlight was Kate Mason, Company Director of the Big Draw located across the wharf, She spoke with students about their ideas, work and accomplishments and oversaw the unrolling of our 10-metre artwork.

Most recently the wharf was used as the stunning location for the finals of Landscape Artist of the Year. Witnessing three spectacular painters interpret the intriguing view that we see each day from our roof-top playground was something magical. Of course, this inspired our children to create artworks of their own and draw the magnificent views on our doorstep.

We’re lucky to be based at the hub of a vibrant, diverse and creative community filled with people only too excited to share their skills and knowledge with the generation of tomorrow. And while over the past year it’s been easy to think that spirit may wane, at Faraday we have seen new bonds form and our strength as a community develop further.

This article first appeared in the 2021/22 edition of Which London School? & the South-East, which you can read here: