Only a week ago I was celebrating our amazing young people in Year 13, recognising their numerous contributions to the Sixth Form as well as the foundations of local, national and international work they leave behind them for others to build on. They certainly have made a difference to The Lions Club, Alexander Devine Children's Hospice and of course, in the village of Brufut in The Gambia. In previous years, after this celebration, the students would head off to focus on revision, dropping in for subject based 1:1s and preparing for final exams, in some strange way looking forward to being measured against the exams boards questions and criteria. As we know only too well, not this year. The students' time in physical lessons ended abruptly and they have no check point against which to weigh their knowledge and understanding and to their credit, they have responded with positivity, with a steely determination to continue producing evidence of the highest quality until asked to stop. Creative students are still editing photographs, stitching project work, adding drawings and annotations to sketch books. Media students are watching and analysing films; music technicians are working on their compositions; English students are collaborating on essays while mathematicians are sharing and solving problems with subject teachers. Our Google Classrooms are alive with top quality teaching and learning with students thriving under the guidance and encouragement of their remarkable subject experts.

It has been my good fortune to speak with students in both Year 12 and Year 13 and their resilience and positive mindsets are impressive. A number of them report they are very happy working independently, with teacher guidance and assessment available. Others are enjoying the combination of focused study and family time. While a number of them are happily balancing their important studies with keeping physically active and mentally well. 

While we are not actually together in the same space, our community continues to connect through the world of Google. Why do we need to maintain our relationships? Because we thrive mentally and emotionally when we work with others. We humans want to be close to others, to connect and build relationships. Whilst the school building is closed our Sixth Form community is not just open for business as usual, but finding synergy in our new way of working and communicating with each other.