For the past three weeks I have been interviewing and writing about what KES teachers have been doing to fulfil CAS during the lockdown, but now the time has come for me to write about what I myself have been doing to fulfil those same ideals. Oh no!
Thursday nights in lockdown have been busy for me and a few of my neighbours. For six weeks now we have been delighting (hopefully) the neighbours with our music at the corner of the road at 8 o’clock (after the clap for carers). The orchestra is formed of several KES foundation pupils: from KES – George Roberts, Ben Bown and myself; KEHS – Katy Bown and Carola Kirchhof, and KEGSH – Lucy Bown (as well as our families and a few extras)! Our repertoire includes Somewhere Over the Rainbow, We’ll Meet Again and Hey Jude amongst others. We play on a drive, whilst social distancing, and manage with just a 10-minute rehearsal beforehand – although I would be lying if I said we were note-perfect.
It’s great fun and a nice way for the local community to socialise and meet (at a distance, of course). Apart from a few keyboard warriors on Twitter, the response has been brilliant and we are more than happy to lighten everyone’s mood after the stresses of online work and be able to play in an ensemble – which could become a rarity.
Lockdown has allowed many to partake in activities that they did not have time to do in their normal routines. Apart from being able to binge even more Netflix, some of these spare time activities have been active. For example, at the start of lockdown I was aiming to go for a run or use the rowing machine every day. It took me three days to get started but, after I did, I managed to keep going for 11 days. However, on the 12th day I was tagged on Instagram to participate in the 5, 5, 5 challenge (run 5k, donate £5 to the NHS and nominate 5 people). I would be lying if I said my primary motivation was to help the NHS (although I was happy to do so) rather than that I would be able to see 5 of my friends suffer.
I nobly ran my 5k (in 29 minutes) and tagged them, but I would like to take this moment to acknowledge that only two of them actually ran it. Although, I do think it is a breach of my power to call out the three who failed.
Anyway, it was for a good cause, and I suppose there’s a lesson in that story somewhere, but it’s very late, and I’m no Aesop, so I’m not sure I want to delve into that. I do hope that somehow this has inspired you to fulfil each one of these ideals, perhaps a bit better than I have!
