Who brought the horse to class?

David Edwards, Director of Studies at Hazlegrove Prep School is weathering out the current Lockdown with musings regarding the different challenges facing teachers as they teach online - his experiences this week included a horse...

Attempting to help run a highly educated, highly motivated, wonderfully principled team of teachers, whilst teaching a highly dedicated (generally) and almost always delightful bunch of children in peace time is always a challenge and certainly great fun; trying to do it in a global pandemic is largely hilarious.

I’m currently playing a game where I try to get up from my computer and count the steps before a “ping” or a “***** is calling you” emanates from my dastardly machine. I generally manage three or four. Ho-hum. I’ve learnt largely to expect the unexpected. The other day, a horse, YES! A HORSE! turned up in my lesson. What was truly mind-boggling was not that, but that nobody, just nobody, batted an eyelid. We all just carried on, ended the live session, and we all got on with our work. I kid you not.

I’ve learnt the simple truth that we can’t possibly please everybody all the time. Never a day goes by without two diametrically opposed opinions flooding into my inbox. We can but listen and try to offer balance. I’ve learnt that technology is nowhere near as frightening as we all imagine. I remember the tortuous 20 mins before my 1st live session back in March. I was pacing up and down like a London Zoo Polar Bear. It went without a hitch. Why all the fuss? Because it’s new, and we’re accountable and we all want to always do our best, all the time. I’ve learnt to remember that everything is always about relationships. Build them, and succeed. Full-stop.

I’ve learnt not to take it to heart when people lose their temper or criticise personally. It’s tough out there. Most of all I’ve learnt to cope when I finish a live session by asking the children if anybody wants to stay on for some extra help, and they all leave in a haze of dust!! Take nothing to heart: they’re busy too, and just need to get on. Here’s to the next few weeks of remote learning (terrible phrase) and here’s to getting back together ASAP! We miss you!