G Head of Junior School
Home Learning 2020 This year at School has been like no other that any of us have known and, I must say, our Junior School girls of 2020 have been outstanding in how they coped with the sudden shift from being in real classrooms to virtual ones. The boundaries between home and school suddenly became blurred as we taught lessons from our kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms to girls scattered all over Edinburgh and beyond. For me the importance of relationships between staff and girls is essential to our success and we all had to engage with each other through a digital platform, a completely new way of learning and teaching. Staff were inventive, adaptive and creative. A large number of our summer term events were moved online, and very successfully. Eco Day was a highlight with the setting up of our very own beehive, Honeycomb Cottage. We now have a swarm of bees led by Queen Beatrice! Thank you to Peter and Mrs Sinclair for all their work in steps towards the production of our own St George’s honey. We also enjoyed learning about just how crucial our bees are to our world. Girls were energetic, enthusiastic and eager. Sports Day saw all of these qualities come to the fore as they entered into the activities in their own gardens and local parks with
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a fervour and ingenuity we just couldn’t believe. Galvanised by our wonderful PE department, there were back garden obstacle races, book-balancing challenges, hurdling cushions, loo roll races and it all ended, as every good Sports Day should, with an ice cream. Parents were supportive, resilient and, quite frankly, exhausted. As they juggled their own work from home and supporting their daughters to keep the flow of learning going, it proved to be a steep learning curve for one and all. I applaud you and say thank you for the parts you all played too during home learning. As we make our plans now to return to school, to reconnect with the children we have missed so much, may I say thank you to everyone in the Junior School community for working together to help us through these challenging, unprecedented times. Sue Hay, Head of Junior School - June 2020
