Insights into senior school life
Interview with Mr. Simon Williams, Headmaster at Churcher’s College, Hampshire In January 2021, Mr. Simon Williams spoke to Education Choices about how Churcher’s College has coped with the COVID-19 pandemic and how life at the college is still bustling - despite the many challenges they have faced… You can listen to the podcast here How are you coping as a school with the COVID-19 pandemic? It is difficult for everybody because you are adapting to a new environment, remote learning, which can be hugely beneficial in some ways, but hugely detrimental in others as well. Beneficial in the sense that it removes many of the distractions that school can present to children, but 16
Education Choices Magazine | Spring 2021
detrimental in that actually children learn enormous amounts from each other and they are not getting that same feeling when they are learning online as they were when they were all in the same classroom. Happily, we are tending to find that the children’s enthusiasm, energy, interest and passion for subjects have not diminished when online, and that reflects the passion, enthusiasm and innovation of their teachers as well. So, from an academic point of view, the children are probably ahead of the game, versus where they would be in a normal year, partly to do with the fewer distractions, less sport, fewer concerts and all those sorts of things which remove children from the academic