Teaching during lockdown : bringing our subjects to life through fibre-optics .
Teaching is sometimes referred to as a calling , and teachers as a breed are , especially at Sevenoaks , passionate about their subject and highly sociable . However , with the instigation of lockdown , these characteristics were reshuffled somewhat . Before you could say ‘ tonight ’ s homework is …’, we were all working from home and teachers had to become versed in a range of different technologies in order to continue to broaden the horizons of their students . Exercise books became OneNote , whiteboard pens became styluses , coffee remained paramount , but the Staff Common Room where we normally come together was , for the moment , closed .
As school closure became a possibility , after-school training sessions were run by tech pioneers of the teaching body , such as James Tate , the Head of Physics . The school took the view that it was not sensible to try to recreate the normal timetable online : it would not be healthy for students to spend hours in front of a screen , and would be unfair to boarders in different time zones . Instead pupils were given a mixture of independent tasks and online lessons . It has been simply amazing to see what
Sevenoaks teachers have produced ; some are selfconfessed ‘ digital dinosaurs ’, but all have evolved into tech-savvy practitioners , eager to redirect the imagination and passion with which they bring their subject to life through fibre-optics .
Mr Niklas ’ s Shakespearean ruff tutorial made many of us smile , particularly when we also saw Dr Rainbow so sportingly wearing a ruff themed after his name – an excellent repurposing of a rainbow slinky ! Mr Dyer ’ s Teams singing sessions , with scores and backing tracks supplied , were a favourite – it was fulfilling to see the fruits of the department ’ s labours presented so wonderfully on Founder ’ s Day . Personally , I very much enjoyed delivering content on Voronoi diagrams using school ties in my garden – helped by my handsome assistant , Mobi the dog .
The Summer term stretched what it means to be a teacher ; we had to reprioritise so many things – but rather than making do , our staff have consistently gone the ( metaphorical – while social distancing !) distance for our students . Clearly Covid-19 has been a significant cloud over much of 2020 and we regret the difficulties it has brought , but we must pick up where we left off , perhaps even with the silver lining of these fantastic digital skills we have garnered .
James Rhatigan Director of Digital Learning
SEVENOAKS SCHOOL 2019-2020 5