Colchester headteacher turns diary about experiences in lockdown into a book
It's all about how parents, students and teachers coped through the pandemic.
The Headteacher of North Primary School in Colchester – who kept a diary about his experiences in lockdown – has now turned it into a book.
Alan Garnett began writing a diary about how parents, students and teachers were coping with the pandemic as a community. It soon turned into a regular newspaper column, before eventually being published.
'A Headteacher's Diary: Trying To Lead a School Through a Pandemic' details the challenge that educators faced with the different phases of coronavirus restrictions, and how people coped with the pressures of the last 15 months.
It also features pictures of many of the students – including who raised £1000 for charity when the pandemic began.
Alan Garnett said:
"It captures how children parents staff coped with the unprecedented experience of living through a pandemic and lockdown and all the pressures that that entailed
"Now and again I got angry about decisions that were made and the notice that was not given.
"I let off steam a few times. So you've got the human interest of the community coming through as well as the frustration of reacting last minute to some very tricky decisions.
"There's some lovely stories of remarkable people doing remarkable things, so hopefully the diary captures that community spirit.
"Anybody who has an association with a school across the country it should resonate with, because we've all had those similar kinds of experiences.
"It's a chronicle of unfolding events as they happened."
Alan Garnett added the students were particularly excited to feature in the book:
"One young lady, Izzy, raised over £1000 for a hospital by drawing flowers on request.
"There is one lovely photo of two children, Jude and Faye, with a huge amount of paper in a file that they've got on their head.
"It was the end of their home learning back in march and they were celebrating all the things they've done and looking forward to coming back to school."
A Headteacher's Diary: Trying To Lead a School Through a Pandemic is available in Red Lion Books on High Street, the money raised will go towards North Primary School and Nursery.
You can also order online at https://www.redlionbooks.co.uk/product/a-headteachers-diary/.