From the Head

In the two weeks since writing my first newsletter article of the year we have all been in and out of lockdown, and I am exceedingly impressed with how everyone at Girton handled it.

The news came to us in the midst of the relays at the Senior School swimming carnival.  We stopped the carnival and shared the news to provide time for the necessary thought and planning processes to take place. The carnival then continued with even greater gusto.  Fast forward to the end of the day, with just hours until restrictions came into effect, we saw students heading back to school to collect books and musical instruments before heading home ready to resume remote learning.  Teachers collected their texts, IT and support staff enabled remote learning and re-distributed step by step instructions and guides.  Come 9.00 am Monday, school resumed via Zoom.

Whilst this experience had none of the hallmarks of the lengthy lockdowns of 2020, three things stood strongly out to me.  We have become more resilient.  We have moved beyond panic to practicality.  We are more tolerant, accepting and adaptable than ever before. Rolling with the flow, as we have become accustomed, I spoke at a rescheduled Senior school assembly last Thursday. I reminded students that, pandemic or not, it is always wise to have a Plan B, not because we plan to use it but because it is a sound strategy.  Remote learning is our proven Plan B but our thinking will not stop there. Our philosophy in 2021 is not to buy into the cancel-culture of COVID, rather, to embrace everything that we can do, however we can do it, in the current situation.

Dr Clayton Massey

HEAD