Back To School

And just like that, they're back to school.

Isobel is in her uniform and she's just set off to start Year 8. She finished Year 7 at home, self-isolating after a positive case in her class bubble. It was the second time during July that she'd had to self-isolate and work online from home; she went back to school for a day and a half after the first time before the text came through to say she was being sent home.

The rules have changed during the summer holidays, so contacts of those who test positive shouldn't be sent home. In theory, this should mean less disruption to school (and, let's be honest, less time off for people in work) but as a parent, this doesn't make me feel any better because it isn't any safer. In fact, it's less safe. She's taken her mask to school, but we have no idea whether mask-wearing is ongoing, and who knows about the ventilation in the classrooms or the CO2 detectors that were promised? But we have to send them into school (if you look back to the 2020 home schooling posts, you will see I am no home educator).

Can we please re-do the summer holidays? It was a much more relaxed time as we sat in the garden when the weather allowed, watching the bees enjoying our flowers. We visited family and went to the Sea Life Centre (which, due to Covid restricting how many people were allowed in at one time, was lovely and calm, even in the middle of the school holidays). We went on walks with Luna, and we celebrated A Levels results. The teen and I were finally double-vaxxed (and even that was less stressful than this back-to-school stuff). And I somehow managed to write almost 80k of a new book I hadn't even planned.

It would be lovely to keep us cocooned in a perpetual summer holiday, but it's never going to happen. And I know we'll soon be back into the school day routine, learning how to navigate the updated Covid regulations. And before we know it, it'll be the summer holidays all over again.