Good afternoon everybody!
I have loved hearing about your ‘Lockdown Legacies’ this week and seeing your words presented in such creative ways.
Inspired by the wise old words of Master Oogway you have told me about …
- The greater value that is now placed on the simple things in life. Hugs with grandparents, aunts and uncles now feel like gold dust and even the less exciting parts of the school day are desperately missed
- A greater appreciation of the natural magic of the outdoors
- The love of family and how we are all learning to accept the diversity that exists within our own homes more
- A greater understanding of the school’s ethos and its invaluable role within the wider community
- The importance of patience and how it feels to live through and find peace within a significant challenge
- The innovation that has resulted from our need to live life in a slightly different way for a while
- The enhancements to life, such as family zoom/skype sessions that are bringing us ‘together’
- The strength that has emerged within our community and the neighbourhoods that we live in as people talk and look out for each other more
- A recognition that nature often mirrors the feelings and experiences that we have too – the joy of a new moorhen brood and signs of ‘healing’ all around us and all over the world
- Relationships with brothers and sisters that have grown stronger
- The increased opportunities that you have had to become more mindful of the changes in nature, birdsong, the names of flowers
- How one of our friends’ name was chosen because it means ‘present’ or ‘gift’, fitting beautifully with this week’s theme
- The absolute joy of a great board game
- An appreciation of a new found ‘togetherness’
- And how you really want all these positives to remain with you, long after the lockdown ends
As always, I have loved hearing all your other updates too, especially seeing all the newly hatched chicks that you have shared with me this week (I shared your photos with the chickens and they got very excited too!). Joe shared with me his idea of another symbol of ‘Hope’ – the daisy. Joe felt that daisies were hardy, survive under the harshest conditions and always bounce back. And Benji, Hugo and Ella reminded me of one of my favourite books ‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse’ and how relevant the beautiful words in this book are at this particular time (I’ve included one of their favourite quotes above).
Thank you once again for all of your wonderful thoughts and messages this week. I hope that you enjoy the images and words as much as I did …
Along with your legacies we also wanted to share with you the first part of our Damers Recipe collections. Miss Barnes has been working incredibly hard in the background, as many of you will know, collecting all the information and images she needs from you following your recipe emails and is creating four recipe collections as a lasting community legacy. Here is a wonderful insight into her amazing work so far, and my favourite one – the Veggie Collection!
I’ve chosen a book this week which shows us the power of ‘yet’ and how we may think we can’t do something until the conditions are just right …
So many parents have told me that ‘today’ has gifted them something that they didn’t have enough of before lockdown – time. As a result of this families are enjoying some of the simplest things in life much more than they were doing before as they now have time to do them more often and without other distractions. The music has changed and we are all recognising that we have always had the ability to ‘dance’ we’re just so much better at it now!
Here’s to your role in recognising the power that you have to keep all of these wonderful legacies alive, long after the lockdown ends Team Damers!
Enjoy your Bank Holiday weekend and your VE Day celebrations. I will leave you with Ellie’s beautiful poem today …
With warm wishes until we meet again soon,
Mrs Smith 🦋
