Page 90 - Herioter 2020

MARCH

The end of Two days earlier, the Scottish emptiness. No-one wanted it to be like
this.
Government had announced that
something schools would close that Friday. The But George Heriot’s School is not an
news had been coming for a long time,
island. We could never be immune to
Let us remember March 2020 like this: but what about exams, now around the impact of a pandemic. Even so, for a
smiling sixth years in the quad and six weeks away, for S4, S5 and S6 while, coronavirus had been an abstract
sunshine. pupils? I was teaching a Higher English prospect. Talk of school closures was
The end of what should have been class in a turret of the Old Building on rife, but there was a fevered anticipation
the penultimate week of Term 2 were Thursday afternoon as David Swinney,
days like we had never seen before. the Education Minister, made an
To borrow Charles Dickens’ famous announcement on behalf of the Scottish
introduction to A Tale of Two Cities: ‘It Government. Exams had not been
was the best of times, it was the worst cancelled in Scotland since they began
of times.’ in 1888, not even during the two great
Behind the grins of those cheery sixth wars of the 20th century, but 2020
years was a shuddering anti-climax. For was an exception. Cancelled. There
them, it was over – three months too was a sharp intake of breath, a laugh
soon. And so June, a month of delicious of disbelief, a wave of disappointment.
anticipation and emotion, was distilled Several girls asked to leave the room.
into one heady, anarchic, shirt-signing, There were tears, confusion, and that
story-swapping, teary morning at the question over and over again: what
end of that penultimate week. In truth, now? I opened my mouth – and closed
it was all too much. For their own good, it again. I did not know either. ‘I have
the entire year group were told to go my six A’s,’ one boy told me, but there
home at lunchtime. was no joy in his realisation, only an

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