Summer Issue 2020
Kingston Grammar School
INSIDE THIS ISSUE :
Biology
School Life
Partridge conservation at home Page 01
The learning goes on Page 04
CELEBRATING OUR COMMUNITY
Competition STEAM, Politics & more Page 12
Artwork Lockdown creations Page 14
WELCOME
FROM THE HEAD MASTER:
At the end of the academic year 2019-20 we want to say‌..
IN REVIEW
Thank you to all of our parents, alumni and friends working in the NHS and a variety of key worker roles‌
This term
Thank you to our staff for their dedication, hard work, versatility and adaptability.
Weeks this term
And thank you to our parents for the their support, to our students for their resilience, cooperation, hard work and endeavour.
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400 Hours of online teaching
50 HM daily videos
THANK YOU
This year 4 Diamond certificates achieved
34 Platinum certificates achieved
142 Gold certificates achieved
264 Silver certificates achieved
Follow the Head Master on Twitter at: @KGSheadmaster www.youtube.com/c/KGSheadmaster
Summer Issue 2020
Partridge conservation
On Monday 8th June, Mr Flavell had the pleasure of receiving 12 grey partridge (Perdix perdix) eggs from Incredible Eggs. In the same format as last year, we were provided with all the hatching equipment and eggs from Incredible Eggs, who are working to re-establish partridges alongside specialist partridge breeders, UK farmers and landowners. Having declined by 80% in the last 25 years this work is essential if grey partridges are to survive in the UK. When first born in the wild they eat a high protein diet, consisting of lots of insects, but as insect populations have declined this has become more difficult, affecting the survival of the chicks. After they have hatched they will be collected and released back into the wild to try and boost the UK population! With a live stream the only way to follow the hatching action, we were lucky to only have a few minor technical issues! By Friday six chicks had hatched, closely watched by students and staff alike. Unfortunately two of our chicks didn’t make it over the weekend, but the remaining three were feisty and
developing fast. This is natural and, given survival rates in the wild may only be 28%, achieving 66% is a great success, and builds on 60% from last year! They were moved into the brooder once fluffed up a little and you can see all the live stream on the KGS Biology YouTube page and highlights on Twitter @KGS_Science. They will be collected this week and then released later in the year once they have matured. Hopefully, KGS’s tiny intervention will help to secure the conservation of grey partridges in the UK for the future!
Kingston Grammar School
30 voices As you may know, we decided to try a cover version of 1980s hit A Little Respect by Erasure. This was a very different kind of project – instead of using £500 microphones we used mobile phones so there was a great deal of difference and no control over how the recording was handled. The backing track was built from the ground up and then all the vocal tracks individually spliced, processed and synced as well as possible. Lastly, several harmony parts were then created using the raw vocal tracks. We’d be very grateful if you could have a listen and perhaps ask others to listen too – it’s just one of the many great things KGS does. Click here to listen: https:// soundcloud.com/sequencekomplete/alittle-respect-kgs-mass-cover The end result is fantastic and Erasure themselves have even ‘liked’ and 8 sent a reply to the tweet we sent out,NOV congratulating everyone. 8 I know that Mr Tierney put a huge amount NOV of work into N 8 OV this; congratulations and many thanks to him and to all of you who took part.
Mr A Beard I Assistant Head
Mr J Flavell I Biology Department
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COMPETITION
Champion Challenges CHALLENGES FOR FIRST & SECOND YEAR
The Champion Challenges were designed to keep the students entertained during lockdown aside from their school work. They have encouraged independent learning and creativity, positive contributions to the community and lots of fun for students and their families. There have been over 250 challenges completed and commendations achieved as a result. Challenges have included acts of kindness, pictures for the Nightingale Hospital, obstacle courses, window stars and lots more!
Miss S Butler I Assistant Head of Year
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Summer Issue 2020
Project prize winners
Kingston Grammar School
STEAM
JUNIOR MANSOOR SHEIKH PRIZE WINNERS
This year’s Junior Mansoor Sheikh STEAM project prize brief was to design and build a clock. There were no restrictions on method; if it could measure the passing of time, it counted. We had some brilliantly creative entries to the contest this year, taking on the problem in a range of different ways. The winning
entry was Fraser de Rivaz’s fantastic Python (as in the programming language!) turtle clock which he carefully calibrated to tell time based on how far a digital turtle could move in a second. The turtle would then draw the analogue clock! This was a really novel approach and very well executed. In second place was Charlotte Comard’s pendulum clock, a classic idea but hard to put into practice, so the judges were really impressed to see how well it worked. In joint
third there was a y nice water clock design by Sophie Bailey and an ingenious adaptation of a mechanical clock by Kerry Wang to tell whether it was day or night in different time zones around the world. Well done to all those who entered and huge thanks again to OK Mansoor Sheikh for sponsoring the competition.
Mr T Benson I Head of STEAM 03
SCHOOL LIFE
MFL
The Summer term has been a busy one for the MFL Department. The remote teaching was a new experience for all of us and brought along new challenges, but also plenty of opportunities to include a variety of activities and project work in the lessons. We are so proud of our students. Many of them took the opportunity to let their imagination and creativity run wild and produce their own art work based on French artists Matisse, Gauguin and CĂŠzanne, build houses after Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and use Picasso and Frida Kahlo as inspiration for their Spanish paintings. Others cooked and baked Italian dishes, Spanish sweets and German gateaux. The creative use of foreign languages can also be seen in the beautiful Spanish poems, and the powerful messages in French, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. As a department we are incredibly proud not only how our students have coped in the last three months, but the in the way many have gone above and beyond the curriculum 04
and created work that inspires, teaches and impresses. We hope that many will continue to be inspired throughout the summer holidays and read, write, listen and create in all the languages that they learn, and find out more about other cultures. We would like to wish everyone a happy and restful summer.
Mrs T Russell I Head of Modern Foreign Languages
Summer Issue 2020
Jemima’s piano playing brings ‘Happiness’ to veteran Bronze Duke of Edinburgh participant Jemima has been volunteering in a local care home, Royal Star & Garter in Surbiton, on a weekly basis, playing the piano for residents. “I really wanted to use music in my volunteering, and my recent experience of visiting my Grandad in a care home gave me the idea of weekly concerts. Royal Star & Garter is a very local care home to me, and it has a lovely piano in the foyer, so it was the perfect location. Luckily for me the staff also thought it was a good idea and gave me the chance to perform. They were so welcoming and friendly.” The restrictions in place for the protection of staff and residents due to COVID-19 mean that she is no longer able to visit in person, but Jemima is determined that this won’t stop her from bringing joy to the residents.
Jemima recorded a video of herself playing ‘Happiness’ by Ken Dodd, a resident’s favourite song, to put a smile on his face and sent the video to the Home’s Activities Manager Raquel Pena Aristizabal. Raquel said: “It was a joy seeing the video, and Bernard’s reaction was so moving. Our residents cherish their visits from the younger generation. Jemima plays so beautifully and you can see how much it means to her when she sees residents enjoying her music. Visits like these mean the world to our veterans, and we will be using technology to continue these interactions at this difficult time.” Jemima was thrilled to receive a video message in return from Bernard. “Watching the video of Bernard makes me smile every time. His happiness is infectious. I am so delighted he has enjoyed my playing; it makes all the practice and effort completely worthwhile.”
Kingston Grammar School
Elastic Parade, featuring Third year student Dagny Rollins, have just released a cover of Ed Sheeran’s Castle on the Hill. In 2019, they played this at the Eel Pie Club, the Strawberry Hill Music Festival, Twickenham Green, and the International Youth Arts Festival in Kingston. You can find their tracks on YouTube.
Imogen Marinko – Thank You, Baked Potato Well done to our KGS Music student Imogen Marinko and her loyal dog Inka who gave a glorious sax and canine combo accompaniment to the Matt Lucas hit Thank You, Baked Potato on his Channel 4 show Be Cheerful in May.
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COMMUNITY
Community spirit shines through at KGS WORK WELL AND BE HAPPY
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Volunteering, fundraising, donating and working collaboratively have long been the cornerstones of Kingston Grammar School’s ethos and this has been no more evident than in the School’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic Over the past eleven weeks, the KGS spirit has shone through. The School has been involved in many community initiatives and staff, students and parents have so far raised well in excess of £10,000 for NHS charities and local organisations. In March, prior to lockdown, the English Department initiated a campaign for donations for the local Trussell Trust foodbank and were overwhelmed by the generosity of the school community.
Summer Issue 2020
This was soon followed by donations of handcrafted PPE to local medical outlets. A team comprising Head of DT Mr Derek Farr, his wife Kathleen, their son Callum, an Upper Sixth student at the School, and Senior KGS Caretaker John Boyes began to manufacture much-needed visors for NHS staff, donating hundreds to both hospitals and care workers in the Kingston area. KGS alumnus Jeroen Sibia launched Lockdown Haircut, a business that matches those in need of home-based haircut tuition with an expert barber, with all profits going to the NHS. One of their first customers was Head Master Stephen Lehec, whose wife was
successfully guided through her first ‘short back and sides’. Featured, amongst others, on ITV’s Good Morning Britain and Sky News, it also provided some light entertainment while raising money for the NHS. This notfor-profit initiative has recently been voted as Best New Business by The Daily Telegraph. First Year student Cameron volunteered, along with his family, with the Dons Local Action Group and worked throughout the Easter holidays delivering food to vulnerable people in the community. His charitable work sparked the interest of ITV who interviewed Cameron for their news bulletin on his motivation for volunteering in the community. Not to be outdone, the U15 girls’ hockey team created the ‘KGS to Inverness’ fundraising initiative by running the equivalent of 2000 km and raising over £6000 for NHS charities. Second Year student Hannah is cycling ‘virtually’ to Dundee and back to raise money, also for NHS charities, and has already raised almost £1000. Alfie in First Year has been busy growing sunflower and tomato plants to give to neighbours whilst student rowers have taken to the water to raise funds for local charities.
Kingston Grammar School
“Kingston Grammar School, like many other independent schools up and down the country, is committed to being an integral part of our local community and wider society. Whether it’s fundraising, time-giving or even risking one’s own hair by putting the clippers in the hands of a keen amateur, we are proud of the role our staff and students play in supporting as many people as possible, from our wonderful NHS to an elderly neighbour.” Mr Lehec
Keep kids connected The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the issue that many school children have no access to a laptop on which to engage in their online learning. Two KGS parents, Nick Cahn and Jill Evans have set up a local organisation, keepkidsconnected Kingston, to provide free laptops to disadvantaged schoolchildren. keepkidsconnected collect spare laptops up to 10 years old and in good condition. They securely erase the hard disk and refurbish the device and then distribute them to Kingston schools who have identified the pupils in need. The team has already provided 150 laptops, but demand is still outstripping supply, so if you have an unused laptop or tablet that you could donate, please go to www. keepkidsconnected.co.uk/donate or get in touch at kingston@keepkidsconnected. co.uk 07
SCHOOL LIFE
PPE production line Kingston Grammar School manufactured hundreds of protective face visors as part of an initiative to support the local NHS at the beginning of Lockdown. The masks were made by the School’s DT Department and donated the same day to frontline NHS staff at Kingston Hospital. The idea to make the visors was spearheaded by KGS Head of Design & Technology, Derek Farr, who said: “I wanted to contribute something meaningful to the fight against COVID-19. I’m delighted that as
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a community we have been able to support those who need PPE equipment right now and make this happen so quickly. There will be more to follow!” Derek was supported by his wife Kathleen and their son Callum, an Upper Sixth student at the School. They were ably assisted by Senior Caretaker John Boyes, who volunteered his technical skills for the task. Mr Lehec said “I couldn’t be prouder. Having already donated all of our PPE to local hospitals, manufacturing more was the next logical step. The fact that so many of our parents, children of staff, alumni and governors are working tirelessly in the NHS makes this extra special and meaningful for
us as a school. We shall keep doing whatever we can.” The face visors were made in a range of bright colours using the Lasercam in DT2 and distributed locally to 10 different hospitals, GP surgeries, care homes, community & district nurses, doctors, key workers, SPEAR homeless charity, Hook Covid Hot Hub and Emberbrook Care Home.
Summer Issue 2020
Geography
It has been a pleasure to see how our KGS Geographers have risen to the challenges of remote learning over the past term. Technology and the focus of our students has meant that we have been able to go on delivering much of our usual Summer term content, such as Weather and Climate in Second Year and River Landscapes for the Third Year and it was pleasing to see students do so well in recent assessments, a testament to their hard work over the term. However, remote learning has also given us a chance to try new things in our lessons, both to allow students important breaks from screen time but also to try and provide a bit more enrichment and variety to our lessons. First and Second Year students have been considering how humans are negatively impacting the environment and
Kingston Grammar School
Geography
at home
working in small groups on Microsoft Teams have produced videos to argue for or against a particular motion including: cars should be removed from city centres; the sales of bottled water should be stopped; eating meat should be banned. Third Year students were encouraged to get creative and build models of different river landforms using materials available in the home. Our GCSE students have also had a chance to explore their creative side whilst consolidating their geographical knowledge and have designed sustainable cities. In their A Level transition sessions Fifth Year students have been exploring key themes such as scale and synoptic connections through the Geographical Catastrophes topic. Here are a few of the river landforms and sustainable cities that students designed and made.
Mr A House I Head of Geography 09
COMPETITION
David Grossel History Competition The History Department was delighted to host the David Grossel History Essay Writing competition this year. The aim is to honour the memory of David Grossel and his role in inspiring young students of History throughout his long career at leading schools in the London area.
Society to great success. During David’s long and remarkable teaching career he also taught at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School in Elstree, University College School in Hampstead, City of London School, King’s College School and, finally, at Hampton School. It is from these schools, alongside KGS, that GCSE History students are invited to submit a 2000-word essay which demonstrates independence of thought and employs material from both primary and secondary sources. The KGS History Department was thrilled to receive forty-two entries from students of David’s former schools. All entries were anonymised before being read and judged by the KGS History Department panel. The quality of essays was outstanding and it was a really tough process to decide our overall winner and five honourable mentions. It was decided that Freddie Pflanz’s (5JJK) essay on Britain’s imperial past was the overall winner. In this essay, Freddie demonstrated that he had undertaken an impressive amount of research to unpick the essay question fully, consulting the work of University of Oxford historians such as John Darwin and John Gallagher, amongst many others.
Sadly, David Grossel passed away in 2018. He was both an Old Kingstonian and former Head of History at KGS, so it was particularly special to be the hosting school this year. During his time as Head of History (1979 to 1984), David modernised the teaching of the subject whilst also leading the Gibbon
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The essays which won in the ‘honourable mentions’ category were also of a superb quality. These winners from other schools offered impressive in-depth analysis of periods including the Elizabethan era, the American Revolution, America in the 1920s and the Cold War. Sadly, our celebratory afternoon tea for the prize winners scheduled for late March had to be cancelled due to the beginning of lockdown. Nevertheless, we hope that entering this
FIRST PLACE Freddie Pflanz
competition in memory of David Grossel and his outstanding contribution to teaching has inspired all the entrants as they embark upon their A Level studies. We wish next year’s entrants the very best of luck!
Dr K Kennedy I Head of History
Summer Issue 2020
Virtual VE Day “We’re not allowed to party in the street even though the Allies did defeat Germany”. These are some of the lyrics from a fantastic song composed by Jemma Dreyer (3W) and Hannah Farrell (3S) as part of the History Department’s virtual VE Day 75 celebrations.
Although lockdown cancelled or postponed many of the major events planned across Britain to celebrate VE Day 75 on 8 May 2020, this didn’t stop the History Department from marking this important anniversary, albeit remotely. VE Day or ‘Victory in Europe Day’ marks a very important day in history when fighting in Europe against Nazi Germany ended towards the end of the Second World War. At 3pm on 8 May 1945, Prime Minister Winston
Kingston Grammar School
Churchill announced that fighting had ended in Europe following Germany’s surrender the previous day. In order to mark this important day, the KGS History Department organised a week of activities for First to Fourth Year students who were invited to commemorate the anniversary in a variety of ways. The response from students was fantastic – we received an incredible range of imaginative and creative ways to mark the day in lockdown, particularly from our Third Year students who have been studying the Second World War throughout the Summer Term. Tom Hunt (3L) produced a striking drawing of a WW2 solider; Ethan Hammond (3W) produced an incredible interactive map demonstrating the positioning of troops during the war; and Ella Robinson (3Q) organised our virtual celebrations with her stay at home street party schedule! Many students also took the opportunity to undertake some delicious baking to mark the anniversary! It was also a great opportunity for the teachers in the History Department to undertake some WW2 family research. Mr Beard researched his grandfather, a Royal Marine Commando. Mr Grant learnt about his relatives who were in the RAF. Mr Sorley shared his research about his cousin who was a codebreaker at Bletchley Park. Dr Kennedy learnt about her grandparents and their roles at the Ardeer explosives factory in Ayrshire. Mrs Butcher even undertook some local history by researching how VE Day was celebrated on her street in Kingston. Check out the History Department’s Twitter feed, @KGS_History, to read more about our discoveries and examples of how we marked this occasion.
Dr K Kennedy I Head of History
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COMPETITION
National essay win for Sam Sam Menzies won a national politics essay prize run by the British Association for American Studies (BAAS).
Sam is the third winner of the national prize awarded to a school student every year since 2017, and picked up ÂŁ250 prize money.
Mr D Sorley I Head of Politics
His topic was about famous political dynasties in the USA, which he narrowed down to a comparison of the Bush presidents (HW Bush and GW Bush) and the Adams presidents (John Adams and John Quincy Adams).
Starpack Design Awards and others concerned with structural/product design, as well as those from materials/ technology courses, to submit solutions to problems set by brand-leading FMCG companies, design agencies, and manufacturers – and win recognition of their excellence.
The Student Starpack competition, established in 1964, challenges students from a wide range of courses, some with a graphics emphasis 12
The expectation is that students really challenge conventional thinking and break the rules with off-the-wall creativity and this is the key criterion for judging success. Congratulations to Imogen Marinko and Sophie Hunt who won Gold and Melker Lannero who won Bronze for their designs. Well done also to Grace Slevin, Maddie Sibley, Sam Smith and Vicky Brierly who were also short-listed for the prize.
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Summer Issue 2020
Kingston Grammar School
Junior Maths Challenge The UKMT Junior Maths Challenge is the highlight of the Summer term for many of our top mathematicians in the First and Second Year and it was obviously a great disappointment when this year’s competition didn’t take place with all the lockdown restrictions. However, today we had 105 of our First and Second Year students take part in the first ever online national Junior Maths Challenge. Along with many others from across the country, they logged in to spend the an hour tackling 25 questions of increasing complexity. A few minor issues with logins were quickly resolved and they were off. Well done to all the students who participated so well. Now we just have to wait until July 8th for the results!
Virtual cycle KGS student Hannah Topen has raised almost £1000 for the NHS by ‘virtually’ cycling from Wimbledon to her family in Invergowrie and back. Since the beginning of May, Hannah has been on her home exercise bike every day clocking up the 1,635 kilometre return journey to her grandparents’ homes. The Wimbledon-based teenager was inspired by her grandmother, Kathryn Topen, who lives in Invergowrie and worked at Ninewells Hospital and Dundee Royal Infirmary for 40 years. Hannah’s dad, Andrew, said: “Hannah has a home exercise bike and after hearing of Captain Tom’s efforts and because her gran was in the NHS, she wanted to raise some money. I thought her enthusiasm might slow down but it hasn’t; every day she gets on the bike and does 25km. It takes her a couple of hours every day. It was all her own idea and is such a big achievement. 13
ART
Art SUMMER TERM PIECES
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Summer Issue 2020
Kingston Grammar School
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ART
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Summer Issue 2020
Kingston Grammar School
Chop chop! Lockdown Haircut Lack of a good haircut during lockdown was the catalyst for Lockdown Haircut founders Jeroen Sibia and Dan Silvertown to create their trending Lockdown Haircut business. Keen to solve the nation’s ever-growing follicle conundrum in the self-isolation crisis, the duo came up with a novel idea to tame the nation’s tresses by providing an army of online barbers to professionally advise while at the same time supporting the NHS and out-of-work barbers. Co-founders Jeroen and Dan contacted the School to see if the Head Master was game to get involved as, by pure coincidence, Jeroen is a KGS alumni and Dan had been one of Mr Lehec’s pupils when he was Head Master at Aylesbury Grammar School. The link between all three of them seemed too good an opportunity to miss. The event not only gave the Head a trim but also provided some light relief and entertainment while raising money for the NHS. Afterwards, Mr Lehec confessed that he had been a bit worried at first but grateful for the chance to get his hair cut, especially in aid of a great cause. All that’s needed is a comb, some clippers and a laptop. Each 20-minute consultation can be booked online and costs £15, with the money split between the barber who provides your consultation and the NHS.
“It’s a wonderfully innovative way of helping people resolve their haircutting challenges and crucially raising money for the frontline heroes in the NHS. Jeroen and Dan are marvellous, as was Ben, but of course I’d expect nothing less from former KGS and AGS students!” Mr Lehec
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SCHOOL LIFE
Language Leaders
Bonjour! ¡Buenos días! Guten Tag! (Ni Hao)! We are the language leaders and we are part of a programme which aims to promote language learning at KGS. We don’t do it just for the early lunch passes; we really do have a passion for languages! Some of us became Language Leaders due to our fluency in one of the languages and decided to assist the younger years in their language learning or just to promote our language. Some other Language Leaders have a real passion for languages that they chose to share with the lower school, but we all want to encourage future students to join the Language Leaders programme and learn the leadership and teaching skills needed to help others in language learning. Recently, we were given the opportunity to teach the lower years of KGS. The experience was fun but also interesting as we had to learn different techniques to use in the classroom. We found that it could be challenging at times when we were planning our lessons, as we wanted them to be entertaining but also informative. In the process of planning our lessons we were also shown some skills to use when, for example, we were handling any misbehaviour. We learnt how to be confident when teaching a class through our body language and realised how difficult the IT can be! Finally, when it came to teaching the class, we felt confident with the new skills we had learned along the way and so we found that the whole experience was definitely worth the effort. We highly recommend doing the Language Leaders Award as it is a very rewarding programme which can help with important life skills such as leadership and teaching and skills and also help improve others’ language skills. We recommend learning a language as it can help with jobs and holidays and they are really easy to learn as there are so many platforms from which you can learn so many different languages from! Au revoir! ¡Adiós! Auf Wiedersehen! (Zaijian)!
Third & Fourth Year students
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Summer Issue 2020
Thoughts on enforced confinement: reasons to be grateful Our Head of Wellbeing, Nick Forsyth, reflects on how a calmer and simpler life may well be just what’s needed for many of us at this time of selfisolation.
“Strange times, Archie. Strange times.” Recently, I’ve taken to wandering around the house muttering this little phrase in a ludicrous pantomime Scottish accent. This is much to the annoyance of my wife, who herself has started muttering “Can you please stop saying that? It’s very irritating.” Some of our older parents and teachers may recognise that this is a quote from the classic, 1980s film, Local Hero. (If you haven’t seen it now is the perfect time to do so you’ll love it!) The film is set in a beautiful location on the west coast of Scotland and stars the Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster as a Texan oil magnate who wants to buy the fishing village and replace it with an oil refinery. The film asks questions about our values and, in particular, the importance of home, and community and how we cope with loss. In the strange times we’re currently experiencing, these themes seem acutely apt. But that is not the reason why the film quote keeps popping into my head. As a younger man, thirty years ago I made two tours to Antarctica. The first, working for the British Antarctic Survey, entailed two eight-month-long Antarctic winters and a total of nearly three years away from home. Once our supply ship sailed north, a group of some twelve men were left alone and isolated, cut off from the normal amenities of life and with no prospect of any outside help or assistance. During the long Antarctic winter it was very common for us to be stuck inside for weeks at a time when the weather was too bad to go outside. One diversion for us was film night every Friday and Local Hero was one of our favourites. So now, as we begin our enforced confinement, I find myself slipping back into
the life I remember from all those years ago. Much to the surprise of my wife who had predicted that I would be a nightmare, railing against the fates and the fact that I cannot sail my boat, I feel instead rather calm and sanguine. Yes, I know it’s early days but if Antarctica taught me anything it was that it is pointless to fight the things that you cannot control. Newcomers to Antarctica would often try to do this – endlessly checking the weather charts and worrying about lost opportunities and missed work. All this did, of course, was to increase the stress and anxiety levels. In contrast, for the old hands there was a simple, calm acceptance. So for us the lesson is to accept that we have no control over the situation. Don’t waste your time and energy on being angry or thinking too far ahead. It is what it is. In Antarctica, during the long periods of isolation, our watchwords were consideration and tolerance. Basically, an understanding of the effects of our behaviour on those around us combined with a greater willingness to put up with others’ habits and foibles, no matter how annoying or irritating. As we begin what is likely to be a long period of isolation, we will all need to be similarly mindful of our own personal relationships and family dynamics. More than ever, self-discipline and self-control will be needed. For many of us, the first week was novel and interesting, perhaps even fun as we got to grips with new ways of working and interacting with each other. But in the weeks and months to come, that initial interest will fade, no doubt to be replaced by more mundane matters; inevitably, there will be times when tempers are stretched. Being stuck with the same group of people for long periods of time is stressful. Individual behaviour becomes predictable, horizons shrink so that small matters assume undue importance and normal disagreements and arguments often end in quite disproportionate difficulties. In Antarctica we often saw that individuals or even the whole group would react to
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some event or other in ways that would be regarded as childish in a wider community where a greater perspective is possible. Of course, technology will help to keep us connected and soften these effects but, nevertheless, we must all be prepared to step up and play our part in maintaining a calm and happy family life. After two years in Antarctica, a colleague was asked what he was enjoying most about being back. Without hesitation he replied, “The freedom to lose my temper if I happen to feel like it!” Ah, freedom: remember that? Freedom is a powerful and emotive word. Rarely does any good come of curtailing society’s freedom to such a drastic degree but the current situation would seem to be an exception. Like many people, I have recently revisited another 1980s classic, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The novel depicts a dystopian world where individual freedom is supressed by the state. Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting anything as terrifying as Gilead is about to befall us but as we all get used to our own loss of freedom I can’t help recalling one particular quote from the book… “There is more than one kind of freedom,” said Aunt Lydia. “Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it.” So right now, I’m enjoying freedom from. Freedom from having to get up at 5.30 each morning, freedom from my daily commute and, perhaps most importantly, freedom from the frantic pace of working life that means that we all now have more quality time to spend with our families. In short, a calmer and simpler life. Last night my family sat down to a game of Scrabble. Aside from Christmas Day that’s unheard of so perhaps this really is an opportunity to put our screens down and connect in new and meaningful ways. Whatever the case, in this time of great uncertainty one thing is certain: this situation, challenging though it may be, will come to an end. When it does, difficulties and upset will fade and blur. Instead, it will doubtless be the sense of achievement and the knowledge that as individuals and families - as communities - we have weathered the storm and have come through the crisis stronger that will remain in the mind. Good luck to you all.
Mr N Forsyth I Head of Wellbeing 19
#workwellandbehappy