Fortitude and resilience during home learning

GCSE student Samuel Palmer, 16, was extremely relieved to get a negative Covid-19 test just before he started back at The Piggott School last month. In his own words, here is his story.

Samuel, who is from Hurst and went to St Nicholas Primary there, gives an insight into learning during this past extraordinary year.

The COVID-19 pandemic has unquestionably made GCSE students indignant, despondent and stressed throughout the last year.

Beginning from the first lockdown in March 2020, I thought that we would be sitting our GCSE examinations in June 2021.

Despite the abrupt closure of schools and the national lockdown, I couldn’t possibly foresee abandoning our GCSEs a year later.

Fortunately, I adopted a positive attitude and work ethic: I started working independently in all my subjects aiming to continue the same school routine.

In the summer term, towards the end of the school year, the school provided online lessons. Classes were divided into abilities and we had interactive learning via Microsoft Teams.

On returning to school in September 2020, many students argued it would be unlikely there would be GCSE exams the following summer. However I was much more optimistic.

I believed, with the help, determination, and resilience of everyone, that it was possible to sit our exams in June 2021. However my attitudes started changing when Wales, and then Scotland cancelled their GCSEs or equivalents.

Luckily, the Piggott School continued its tradition of mocks in November/December which, in hindsight, gave indispensable evidence towards our deserved grades.

However during November and December last year, there were cases of Covid-19 in our year group. Unfortunately, I had to self-isolate, along with about 50 other students for 14 days.

During self-isolation, I was psychologically fatigued and drained; revising relentlessly accompanied by the stress and pressure I put on myself proved to be difficult. When we got back to school we did two exams every day for a week to make up for the ones we missed.

Despite fervently anticipating GCSE examinations in the summer, I understood the government’s reasons for cancelling them.

From January this year we focused on online learning and the other half of the content we had not covered during the mocks in November.

Many students have found online learning extremely monotonous and tedious, and felt detached from the work.

I have certainly experienced motivational issues throughout the last few months and fatigue after the online lessons, heightened by the fact we were expected to fixate on a screen for many hours.

I am extremely relieved to be enrolling in school life again: to be able to see my friends, to use the school facilities, and to talk to the teachers who have been phenomenal during the lockdown.

I think we must recognise and respect the efforts of the teachers during the pandemic and over the last few months.

We tend to, whether consciously or not, admire and acknowledge the young children and students within society.

However we forget about the teachers. So I would like to say thank you to them, and raise a glass for their fortitude and resilience.