Delabole Slate July 2021

Delabole School
A very well-respected educator – Sir Mick Waters – often talks about the ‘rear view mirror’
of learning, and in so doing, he is referring to what the learning journey looks like when you
gaze back on it. As we approach the closing weeks of another school year, we cannot help
but cast our minds back to reflect on the journey of our school and its community through
these unprecedented times. When we stare back into the ‘rear view mirror’ what do we see?
The journey which started in March 2020 for all of us has been perhaps one of the most
challenging in the history of British education other than in times of war. It has certainly
changed the very fabric of the way our school operates – its bedrock of routines and systems
– because keeping everybody safe has occupied so much of our time and energy, and forced
us to rethink almost every aspect of the day from the moment children enter the playground,
to the moment they leave. Although we have strived to not impose unnecessary restraints
on our children, there are times when the school has felt, looked and even sounded very
different. There are even times when it has fallen silent.
It sometimes seems as if there has been a heavy price to pay. There are children and staff in our school who have never
experienced a whole school assembly. For over a year, our children have not enjoyed the total freedom of mixing together
in the playground without boundaries. Our teachers, who work so closely together to shape the best learning experiences
and the richest possible curriculum, have not been able to plan and have face to face staff meetings for many months
now. We have not been able to welcome our parents into the school. It has been impossible
to take our children into the community to celebrate those important rites of passage
through the year - such as Harvest, Remembrance and Christmas. Our much-cherished
whole school performances and celebrations with a real audience are a distant memory.
Sometimes it feels like we are sleepwalking and tomorrow we might wake and emerge
from a dream.
Sadly not. As we look back on a period that straddles almost two years of learning, we
have to accept that this has been the reality. So, what keeps us going? Well, the answer
is easy. The gift that every child brings to our door is an incredible ability to live in the
moment. Despite all the challenges, when we look in the ‘rear view mirror’, we have
glimpses of children filled with delight at a box of new books, bursting with curiosity to
identify a minibeast, beaming with pride because they have solved a problem, learned to
ride a bike or swum their first 25 metres. There are memories of smiles, tears, laughter
and frustration and joy and friendship and falling out and making up and taking risks and
being kind and making mistakes and forgiving and learning and learning and more learning.
In the end, no pandemic can take away that raw sense of endeavour that children bring
to a task which excites, inspires and motivates them. In the end, that is why we can think
about the year to come with hope in our hearts.
A Methodist Minister’s View
Sue Cox and the Delabole Team.
I am writing this article a few days before the commencement of the G7 Summit meeting at St. Ives. We have become
aware over the past weeks of the arrangements which have been made to enable this event to happen in a secure and
safe environment. The planning, of course, has been going on for many months to police the event with some 5,000
officers, all of whom have to be briefed and accommodated. Alongside the conference, arrangements have had to be
made for the Worldwide television, radio and newspaper journalists to be able to prepare and release their stories. The
stories will produce the news headlines for a few days, but by the time you read this article things will have moved on
and the newspapers recycled. The costs of all the arrangements will be quite a few million pounds – which investment
we need to hope will have World Wide impact.
Many stories will emanate from the whole experience alongside those which will be on our news bulletins or in the
newspapers. The police, hotel staff and residents will all have a story to tell.
In our Methodist Churches in the month of June we are sharing in Bible Month and this year are looking at Mark’s gospel
in our Bibles. Mark is the shortest of the four gospels and was the first to be in circulation for reading amongst Christian
groups in the era of years 60 or 70 A.D. – about 30 years after the death of Jesus. We are used to reading short passages
from the Bible, but the whole of the Gospel can be read in about 2 hours. Reading the gospel in this way gives one an
overview of the story of Jesus. The challenge to all of you is to give it a try and see what impressions you form reading
a story that is nearly 2,000 years old. Unlike the ‘news’ stories it has not gone out of circulation or out of print – which
is in itself amazing – and has an everlasting significance for us all.
One of the letters in our Bible was written to the Hebrews and in it the writer says, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever’, see Hebrews 13:8. The teachings of Jesus are still relevant today, and his power experienced by
people. The story of Jesus is enduring and worthwhile exploring.
Every Blessing,
Bryan Ede