Bridging the Gap

This is probably the most photographed bridge in the Lake District and on my run over Walla Crag this morning, it was quite something to be able to take a photo of it without another human being in sight.

Today was after all, the first Sunday of the Easter holidays and it should’ve been teeming with crowds-along with the inevitable ice-cream van-lurking around for capital gain. However, like all of my ‘daily allowance’ outings this week; I was privileged to be the main star in this one-woman show (and I quite liked it!)

‘Bridging the Gap’... a phrase I hear all too often in my career- one which is bandied around in relation to children whose prior attainment doesn’t quite correlate with their current performance; children who are placed at a disadvantage compared to their peers because they’re from a household within a different demographic; children who are unable to adequately access their learning because their individual needs are not being met in the classroom...

And the list goes on.

And on.

Now, obviously, I’m not disputing the importance of what this phrase means within the educational spectrum and as a reflective practitioner, I consider these many learning barriers at the centre of my teaching.

However, the phrase has taken on a new (albeit) temporary meaning for me:

It’s the connection I can make with my Mum over a FaceTime chat.

It’s the hours I’ve already spent ‘zooming’ with friends, so we can be a source of comfort & anecdotal hilarity for each other.

It’s being able to spend time re-learning how to cook.

It’s improving my guitar playing & making sure I don’t let my vocal chords get rusty.

It’s being able to listen properly to the things my children would like me to hear.

It’s finding the fun in the mundane.

For now, I quite like this new meaning.