Good morning Year 9,
I hope 'Quarantine 2K20' is going OK in your households so far and that you haven't had too many rows with siblings, or parents over who gets to eat the last biscuit from the tin (or, in my case, after losing every single game of scrabble I play...which, as an English teacher, is extremely frustrating!). I don't know about you, but with everything going on and after the news of the 'lockdown', I've been watching a lot more of the news recently. Now, whilst it's important to stay regularly informed, seeing all the negativity can become quite scary and it certainly doesn't do our mental health any good.
With this in mind, I'm going to dedicate this second blog post to 'other news'; mainly the positive kind. Because, whilst we might be living through a pandemic, there are still things being celebrated all over the world. Personally, I've taken to reading 'The Happy Newspaper' and 'The Good News Network' (see below for links).
A particular favourite article of mine on here is:
Jimmy Fallon Asks Twitter to Describe Their Quarantine in Six Words—and the Results Are Hilarious
My Tweet would be... "Binning Scrabble if I lose again"
And there is my first quarantine challenge to you: If you were to sum up your time in Quarantine in six words, what would you say? Send me your suggestions (kmoore@salesian.surrey.sch.uk) and I'll post the best ones.
Last Friday, when Mr Kibble addressed the staff for the last time before school closed, he spoke confidently about how something 'positive' will come out of this storm. Now, whilst it might not seem like it yet, I too believe that this will happen. Maybe not now, but in the not-so-distant future, we may find ourselves living in an even better world. I even stumbled across a quote in the book I'm currently reading, which I think sums it all up perfectly.
"...Once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure. in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what the storm's all about" - Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore.
Whilst I'm on the topic of reading. I thought I'd share with you some of the books that came through the post yesterday that I'll hopefully get a chance to read, or re-read over the next few weeks.
You will have heard the famous saying from all of your English teachers at every parent's evening ever..."Make sure you're doing enough reading at home". And I know a lot of your responses are something along the lines of: "But Miss, I hate reading!'" Well, now's your chance to change that.
So, my second quarantine challenge to you is this: read one new book between now and the end of the Easter Holidays...unless you're a slow reader- then, in that case, I'll give you until the end of quarantine! Here's one book that you should be able to read online that my 91EI have been doing as their class reader...
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
As well as starting a reading list, the Polish lessons have begun. I can't say I've learnt much yet as my workbook is currently empty, however the DUOLINGO app is helping me out a lot. I'd highly recommend it if you're thinking about a new skill to learn.
On top of marking and planning lessons over the last few days, I have been getting all Year 9 tutors to send me in messages of encouragement to you all. First up, is Miss Hopkins with a message for her RUA tutor group...
"I just wanted to check in and see how you are doing. I hope you are starting to get into a routine and managing being at home. I hope you are finding ways to keep physically active, don't forget how good it is for our physical and mental well being. With being the sporty people you are, some of you may have come up with some great ways of exercising - please do feel free to post what you do on the Salesian PE twitter. Let me know if you need anything. Take care of yourselves, stay safe and stay active." Miss Hopkins
Miss O'Neil has also been putting her creative skills into practice. Here's a painting she has been working on...
Miss O'Neil has also been putting her creative skills into practice. Here's a painting she has been working on...
Now before I sign off, as promised, here is the first student to get in touch with what they've been up to. This is Alex, "flipping her way through quarantine"... **Fingers crossed the video works**
What have you all been up to? Remember to keep sending stuff in to my email and I'll get it up on the next post.
Stay Safe; Be Healthy; Think Happy.
Miss M x
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