Half Term Interrupted!

So Tom broke up for half term on Thursday and we celebrated that he had managed it all without having to self-isolate.  So so many have had to do so, so much learning time lost by so many children - you do wonder what the overall effect is going to be on their education.  

Teaching is all a bit random at the moment. Teachers can't get within 2 meters of the children, so they can't help them in the classroom.  No practicals, teachers can't touch paper handled by pupils which makes marking impossible, homework is marked by viewing across the classroom (eg Tom had to draw a bar chart of something for physics.  I asked him how the teacher marked it - apparently at registration they had to show it as their name was read out - basically all the teacher could check was that they had done it, not if they had done it right or not - I'm taking it upon myself to do this for him - he had done it wrong, so I made him do it again!)  There have been tests - but the children have to mark them themselves, Tom did a geography test and was marked down 2 points by a fellow pupil but on looking at it he had got them all right?!  He does quizzes on the computer - but once again it is a bit random eg.  "What sea separates Europe and Africa?"  He wrote the Mediterranean Sea - he got it wrong because he should have just written Mediterranean.  Same again for the Ocean separating Europe and America - he wrote Atlantic Ocean, he should have just written Atlantic.  In that quiz he to a low mark but got pretty much everything right - just not exactly how the computer programme wanted it written.  So it is all a bit random.  

For food studies (or whatever it is called now), he had to make a salad.  They had to do it at home and then send in a photo.  I found this really hard.  His idea of a salad was lettuce, cooked carrots, raspberries, pineapple and 200ml of apple juice????!!!!!  It is almost as if he has never had a salad before.  Should I let him go ahead with it or should I guide him to make a salad which is actually a salad?  In the end he made one but kept the carrots raw and without the apple juice and uploaded the photo alongside loads of photos of professional looking 'proper' salads.  

We got some effort grades through on his last week - all were good.  Guess which subject he got the lowest grade for...yep...food studies.  This tells me that I probably should have intervened more?!  Oh hum, he has room to improve I guess.  The annoying thing is that his kitchen skills are probably better than most but the teachers will never know will they because they won't actually see the kids in a kitchen with their own eyes!

Anyway, we were celebrating no self-isolation which was great - he was going to spend a day with some Alpacas on Saturday with Florrie (her birthday treat) and then we had booked The Den at Gauber bunk barn for a couple of nights - just to get away.

On Friday we headed north of Sedbergh to go for a walk to Courtley Spout - a rather lovely waterfall.  We were half way up it when I got a message from a friend asking if we had got the dreaded email re self-isolation?  Matt fired up his email on his phone - yep - we had got the message of doom.  Some one in close contact with Tom (ie in the same class as him for something) has tested positive and he needs to self-isolate until Tuesday 3rd November.  Bugger!  Neither me nor Matt need to isolate - just Tom, so we can go out for provisions / walks etc, but not him. 

Luckily the path we were on was deserted - think we only saw about 2 other people on our path the whole time.  We decided that as we were there and as it was deserted, we would carry on with the walk so we did. It was a steep walk, with great views, good for the soul - especially as we knew we wouldn't be able to get out again for the next week and a bit.

We then came home and here we will stay until next Tuesday.