Still sunny. Noisy wedding parties. Looking at the effects of lockdown.

The heatwave continues. Amazingly we have sunshine again today. It was already hot when I went out for a run before nine o’ clock. So I have stripped the bed and hunted out a load of other stuff for washing. This is what you do in the north of England. According to the weathermen the warm weather, the blue skies and the sunshine are set to continue for the next few days too! 

As we came back from our walk up Lark Hill yesterday we spotted a beribboned car in the carpark of the pub next door. Clearly a wedding reception was taking place. Later in the day our ears were assaulted by a very loud live band, also in the carpark, at the end still set up with tables and chairs, the end abutting our garden. I am not at all sure where they would have set up the band if it had been raining, as the restaurant area of the pub is not very big. However, the happy couple were fortunate enough to have a splendid day for their wedding. I fully expected the evening to be as noisy as the afternoon had been, maybe causing problems when we wanted to go to sleep but it all went quiet. Good neighbours after all.

I came across an article this morning about the effects of lockdown on our young people. There’s quite a lot of this sort of reflection going on at present. We have grown used to hearing about the problems of pupils who have missed chunks of their education, the exam results crises and other education-specific matters. This writer looked at the social side of the problem. Again, we have heard some of this already: the babies who have not had the chance to relate to a wider group of people than their parents, about toddlers who have not had chance to learn to play with other children, about children going into the reception class unable to use a knife and fork, hold a pencil, even communicate properly because they have not been to playgroup or nursery. But youngsters at the other end of the education chain have also suffered through lack of social interaction. They are apparently going off to university unprepared for the new experience. University tutors are apparently having to treat them like 16 year olds rather than the quite mature 18 year olds they are used to. Why is this? It’s because they have not had a proper sixth form experience.

Now, I have long held the belief that sixth form college is a quite excellent halfway house between school and university. Youngsters from a range of secondary school come together for sixth form education, having to learn to be independent and to get to know a whole new set of people. As a teacher in sixth form colleges, I was always impressed by the change that took place during the summer break between first and second year sixth form. The students who had enrolled on courses at the start of the first year returned as mature and sensible (for the most part) young people, almost old friends rather than students! I’m all in favour of sixth form colleges! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!