The only thing keeping teachers going is the resilience and drive of our students

One day things will return to normal for us all – until then, have faith that our students are capable of achieving so much, no matter how strange things may seem, writes Supritha Rao

‘Throughout all of this, the most remarkable thing has been the children. For all we may complain about PPE, social distancing and corridor patrol, the impact on students has been massive’ (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

I have been trying to find the right word to sum up this school term. The one I keep returning to, however, is “strange”. Did I ever imagine I would be confined to one corner of my classroom, not allowed to approach the children I teach? Did I ever imagine I would need to wear gloves, visor and mask to teach the basics of computer programming? Yes, it has certainly been a strange start to the academic year.

And all this after a very strange 2020 overall. When lockdown started, and we had to switch very quickly to working from home and delivering lessons remotely, little did we expect that so many other aspects of the profession would change. Not only are we now helping our students catch up after so much time out of school, we have the added pressure of accelerating this school year in order to mitigate further lockdowns and ensure assessments are completed to maintain confidence in next year’s GCSE and A-level results.

I’m sure I won’t be the only teacher craving even just a day of normality. For the foreseeable future, though, strange is the new normal. That said, throughout all of this, the most remarkable thing has been the children. For all we may complain about PPE, social distancing and corridor patrol, the impact on students has been massive.