During the second term when schools were shut due to lockdown, I took the opportunity to bring Sarah-Hope over to the primary school in town where Libby was. It was definitely going to simplify my life logistically by having Sarah-Hope there although there were losses too (e.g. not a wheelchair accessible campus etc). But the remote learning term gave me a chance to transition Sarah-Hope to a different curriculum which was a gift.
Apart from any of the three of us devolving into tears at various points in the remote learning phase, it was wonderful to get right into learning without the logistical barriers of accessing school with devices and arranging for support to be put in place. I could see that without all these logistics Sarah-Hope had more brain capacity for the actual academic learning. And I could finally sit and actually read with her and do some homework.
As it became clear that schools were going to reopen, I had to sit with the sense of dread regarding Sarah-Hope getting sick. She already has existing lung damage so does fall into the category of more vulnerable children in terms of COVID-19 and the thought of her having another physical set back was awful... especially at a time when we were regaining ground in her academics.
After a comforting consultation with the paediatric pulmonologist, we started school. There were only 10 children in the class and she started school right in the peak of the first wave - everything was masked and sanitised and you weren't allowed to move from your desk... this suited her perfectly! As with many children, 2020 with no flu season was her healthiest winter ever.
