TOMORROW is results day. Next week, we will be back at school.
It has been a summer holiday like no other – it lasted for almost five months, for a start.
Some people felt disappointed and angry when the exams were cancelled and the schools were closed. I was in fifth year, about to sit my Highers. I had submitted all my portfolio work – science assignments, English essays, musical compositions. Everything was done, dusted and ticked off the list.
And then everything stopped.
After the initial shock, I was not sad about losing out on the chance to sit exams (no-one’s favourite thing to do at the best of times) but I cannot imagine how all the sixth years felt when their celebrations were cancelled. What a way to finish your schooldays.
I hope they managed not to concentrate on the horrible circumstances and the sad way this school year ended, and instead remember the great times they had.
Read more: Three quarters of Scotland's disadvantaged children unable to do any lockdown schoolwork
You might never need to recall all the information you learn for an exam, but friendship will never go to waste.
I enjoy school as I love to learn new things and I really have missed that. But school is about more than what happens in the classrooms.
Teachers are there to teach us but they also guide and nurture us. During lockdown, some provided even more than that, especially for vulnerable pupils who miss the structure school provides.
School is a combination of lots of other things – the jokes you share with your friends, the deep - probably ultimately pointless - discussions you have over lunch, the chance to meet friends at after-school clubs, trips to interesting places.
To have been without all of this for the last few months has been very difficult.
My school life is busy. (Just ask my parents, who spend a lot of time acting as my taxi service.) I love extracurricular clubs, being part of the school’s concert band. I love that rehearsal once a week, creating music with my friends. All that disappeared too, and we all miss that interaction.
I hope that school life will return to ‘normal’ but what if it doesn’t?
Obviously, not everything will be the same. Some things, like adhering to social distancing where possible and washing our hands more often, will have to change. It will feel strange at first, not being able to do some of the things we used to do, like hug our friends or shake hands.
So pupils and teachers will have to work together. Communication is the most important thing. From the very first day, there will be new rules and new guidelines so it is important that we know what those are. There should be no ambiguity because that is where problems might arise.
Everyone will adjust to school life differently. There will be pupils ready to jump back in immediately, but some will need more time. Many young people will have experienced difficult and even traumatic situations during lockdown. We all need to be mindful of each other and respect the choices that people make.
None of us are expecting to go back to the schools we knew in March. We know there are lots of challenges ahead. But if pupils and teachers work together, we can rebuild our successful school communities in the aftermath of this pandemic.
Archie Wallace is a sixth year pupil at Duncanrig Secondary School in East Kilbride.
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