March 18th

Today has felt quite significant, on a number of levels.

Firstly, at the school I've been in for the past two weeks, we tested the final pupil for the final time. That's every single pupil in a secondary school, tested three times over the course of two weeks. It's felt quite something to be a part of. Historic in a way. 

Today also marks the date a year ago that my blips took a very pandemic turn, so it's weird to start to look back on them. This time last year, we managed to squeeze in an afternoon of filming with Omar Beckles, which was great as we used so much of that content over the next few months. It was probably the last time I was in school without a face mask. And the day we heard the announcement that the schools were going to close. We rushed about the place trying to get care packages together for young people and talked about what the future might hold.

This afternoon I had to pop to the office to prepare some stuff for school tomorrow and had a slow walk back to the car via town and the quarry. It's weird, I don't think it's really until I walk through town that the full scale of what's happened really hits. I think we all just get on with things quite merrily and then suddenly sometimes it just hits. How life has changed and will continue to change. It felt like quite a melancholy walk as I pondered the memories of a totally different life.