Date: 09/12/21
By Alan Hardie, CEO at NCEAT.

This week marked the first anniversary of the roll out of Covid-19 vaccinations. It was a sign of hope for 2021 after a very dark and grim 2020. Sadly although there have been a few glimmers, 2021 hasn’t quite lived up to the hopes that many of us had for the year. We are certainly not out of the pandemic yet and there have been other dark times during the past 12 months. Last week, Storm Arwen literally brought darkness (and the bitter cold) to many people in the North East.

I’m a big fan of Christmas lights. I find the progressive shortening of days from September to December hard to bear and having bright lights in and on our homes and buildings somehow seems to make the darkness a bit more bearable, as the light decreases it.

Looking back twelve months, I also wrote about lights shining through the darkness and our hopes for better times ahead. While 2021 hasn’t brought as much hope as we wished for, there have been some shining ‘lights’ which have brightened up our year. For many people that may have been the lifting of lockdown restrictions and seeing friends and family again. For others it may have been England’s run to get to the final of the Euros, or the departure of Mike Ashley from Newcastle United!

For me though, one of the brightest lights has been the hope and determination I have seen in our pupils and staff.

It is very easy for us to feel overwhelmed at times by the huge impact that Covid-19 has had on all of our lives. This impact has been greater in communities that were already struggling economically and where disadvantage creates the greatest challenges for education. However, what I’ve seen across our Trust schools this term has given me greater optimism for the future. I’ve witnessed staff who are incredibly committed to their roles and are working tirelessly to support our children. I’ve spoken to parents who want their children to have the best possible education and are supporting our schools to do this. Above all else, I’ve seen the children in our schools working with determination to make up for lost time and who are trying their hardest to succeed.

When we speak of light in our Trust schools, we use this as a metaphor to describe the inner light that all of us have. While this might not be able to put out the actual darkness at this time of year, it makes a massive difference to all our lives when people choose to let their ‘lights’ shine through their determination, hope and kindness towards others. This is something we see in our schools each day and this ‘light’ gives us hope that our children will overcome the darkness created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” – Albus Dumbledore. (from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling)