Dr O'Rielly's Welcome to Remote Learning

Acting Head, Dr Emma O’Rielly, welcomed students to Remote Learning on Thursday morning with a tale from 1666 England. She spoke about the small village of Eyam in the famous Peaks district, which became known as the “Village of Heroes” for cutting themselves off from the world and allowing the plague to ravage their population, in order to stop it from spreading to other villages. Only when deaths stopped after four months did they emerge into the world and re-build. 

The moral of the story may not be what you expect. Dr O’Rielly goes on to explain that these heroic efforts from times past can make us feel that we are no longer made from the same moral fibre, nor possess the same level of courage as those who are described in heroic tales from the past. But the truth is quite different. Listen to the story here; https://astra.girton.vic.edu.au/homepage/18274