I saw this on Twitter yesterday. I don’t know where it was taken but it’s obviously somewhere in the UK – the scenery, the sky, the houses, the signs, and the Dalek on the left side of the road all point to somewhere in the UK.
It’s school holidays this week and next and we’ve decided to stay at home 🙂 In all seriousness, I have found it pretty easy to stay at home and am even managing to get groceries delivered – some of them anyway. I found a fruit and veg box delivery service and have been getting that which is terrific and the rest of the time we use Bonobo.
There’s no chance of us starving! Here are some of the goodies I got today, all vegan of course.
I love Bonobo and am so grateful to the vegan community in Aberdeen and Scotland. Physical isolation is one thing but worse than physical isolation is the feeling of being truly alone, of not having anyone who understands your point of view and this is pretty much what it’s like as a vegan, or at least until recent years. For the first time in probably my whole life, I no longer feel so alone in this regard.
Thanks to Bonobo and the fruit and veg boxes I’ve only had to go out once in the last week and that was to get toilet paper. We were running low so I went to M&S at Union Square on the weekend and had to queue up outside only to discover they had none at all instore anyway. It was a complete waste of a trip. I’ve since found an online supplier and ordered a box on the internet. I should have done that first. Quite a few things can be ordered online still, including Nakd bars. I am quite content at home and have not even been taking advantage of our daily exercise rights since I’m getting plenty of exercise from the trampoline and the 9am classes with Joe Wicks which we all do as a family every day.
It’s unlikely school will reopen after the Easter holidays. I suspect it will remain closed until the summer so I’ve instead enrolled the kids in an online school which starts on the 20th April. There are several online schools that offer a full British education, including A-levels, from home. Daniel and Elizabeth’s schools here have been giving them homework to do but they’re not offering any live online classes via video link and I think this is a mistake. I believe the reason for this is they don’t want pupils without the technology to participate missing out but it seems a bit defeatist to then make all pupils miss out. I would prefer they make alternative arrangments for those few pupils rather than not have anything for anyone. It just doesn’t seem right.
If you’re looking for an online school here are some of the options:
https://myonlineschooling.co.uk
https://interhigh.co.uk
https://www.chsonline.org.uk
https://wolseyhalloxford.org.uk
They all look pretty good although the last one doesn’t offer live online lessons and I know from my experience of working from home that having regular live contact with people is important. The kids both seem keen so I’ll let you know how it goes when they start.
rachel.blog 
Hi – the teachers’ unions in England strongly discourage online classes (as I found out when I asked our senior management if I could do it!) due to safeguarding issues.
Instead we should be posting work to do through the internet and we can offer pre recorded classes.
I’m glad you are feeling part of a community. I think we are both developing our awareness of the benefits of veganism and working out how to link like minded people better.
Oh that’s interesting. What are the safeguarding issues? The online schools I’ve seen have video for the teacher only so the pupils join but they don’t have video on, only sound. In other words, pupils can see the teacher but not the other way around. Pre-recorded classes are still good although there’s no option for class discussions and questions with that delivery. But Daniel’s and Elizabeth’s schools aren’t even offering that.
As soon as our Headteacher said “the unions say…” we both knew it was a no go so I didn’t go into it. I guess because it is live and there is no record of it, pupils could in theory make allegations afterwards? And then because there aren’t other people right there present to witness directly what is going on and back up one side or the other, things could get complicated. I am not sure. I think when you work in education there’s a general feeling that it’s much easier to play it safe because when things go wrong they go very wrong. I don’t think that culture has made its way to Higher Education, where Ben is. I think online school sounds a great opportunity.
Gosh that’s not the reason I was expecting at all and seems so crazy. No one is in the classroom with the kids at school except the teacher. You could say the kids are even safer than that when they’re at hoping watching the lesson via video link. It seems so strange to not have them for this reason.
Dear Rachel, As always enjoy your blog posts. Fun and informative. I just wanted to ask which of the following online schools did you choose? > https://myonlineschooling.co.uk > https://interhigh.co.uk > https://www.chsonline.org.uk > https://wolseyhalloxford.org.uk Best, Karla
>
We chose this one – https://myonlineschooling.co.uk
I should add that it says on their site that the last date for applying to start on April 20th was last Friday but we sent our application in on Sunday and still got places so if there’s space I’m sure you’ll be able to get in sooner.
Here’s another one well worth considering in my opinion – Khan Academy.
Ooo thank you! That looks good too.
It is good; I’ve used it for years to try to improve my maths ability.
Our local dance teacher has been teaching via Zoom, and has to begin each session by asking that children’s parents, guardians or carers are in the room throughout. It’s madness.
That’s great that they’re still getting dance lessons. Elizabeth’s highland dance lessons have pretty much stopped. They get written homework but it’s not the same. Video classes would be great but I had no idea the parents had to sit in the room as well. It does seem like madness.