Heritage and history will always be an integral part of our school identity. From the Saxons to Shakespeare, the Stratford-upon-Avon community is bound by rich historical significance. Today, our community finds itself living through another truly historic time.  

The social distancing measures that have been put in place to combat the coronavirus, including the temporary closure of our school, is a unique moment that will be remembered for generations to come. Isolation is difficult and goes against our naturally sociable instincts – but represents a chance make our own history. Those of you studying right now are the first, possibly the only students, who will ever experience an event like this in the history of our country.  

As such, our History department has suggested that you keep a daily record of what is happening at this time. This is not homework and does not need to be shared. This is for you and your loved ones.  

There are lots of ways you can record the day to day things happening in your home. You could create a video series or keep a written journal, perhaps with some photos. Our advice would be to list how you and your family stays entertained and what efforts you are going to in order to remain educated, such as how different or challenging you are finding home schooling.  

Our History department has taken this unique opportunity to look at curriculum areas not ordinarily focused on in detail. Year 7 historians have been studying the Silk Road through www.activehistory.co.uk  in the Mediaeval Period; whereas Year 10 are continuing with their GCSE unit on 1945-1972, by producing Tweets covering the Détente period. Still to come is the use of Lego/Playdoh as an assessment technique and the production of a poem, artwork or piece of music based upon the Spanish Civil War.  

All year groups have had to adapt to slightly different approaches to teaching and that has included in assessment where students have been picking up emojis, for example a thumbs up emoji for a correct answer, a laughter emoji for something that is correct and a GIF for an answer that shows particular historical insight into the discussion.  

Your day by day account will be invaluable for your relatives and quite possibly, the historians of the future. In as little as 10 years, people will begin to ask you what it was like to live through the ‘lockdown’ of 2020. Keeping a record of your thoughts will be a great way to help you remember. It is not just about the future, as there are well-being benefits to thinking and documenting your difficulties and remembering the lighter side of this extraordinary time.