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STUDENTS IN LOCKDOWN

Writer's picture: IAN D FLEMING (PGcert 2021)IAN D FLEMING (PGcert 2021)

Our busting at the seams busy term is about to hit Week 3! The teaching and prepping and pastoral care duties and admin have been none stop. It's Sunday 17:00 and I'm juts finishing my working week ... readying the last elements of Moodle for the whole of next week's unit sessions (2 to 3 per day!).


Week 2 brought to light much student anxiety and disillusionment. My team and I are fighting so hard to make this term work ... a term where my BAFTV students come together as a double cohort with BATLEP. This is normally the much fabled and desperately exciting HOUSE PROJECT term. An award winning unit ... winning major awards for teaching excellence when it was created (before my time). As unit leader, last term in the 'blended learning' environment I had sold this term to the cohort so well and as they always are, they were excited, dying to get their teeth into this single camera, purpose built studio set period drama. I had already ditched the historical 1950s period setting for Dystopian World settings. Last term was their Script Term, where 10 weeks of intense screenwriting learning normally come to fruition in this term with selection and production of scripts written then. It's a crushing blow to these poor students ... and to me ... and my ALs and staff team. But I have adapted the format and the students have been supportive and are trying hard to adjust to the fact of home shooting on devices ... no real substitute for a full production crew shooting on pro kit in a studio. Year Leader tutorials and off timetable contact with 'suffering' students has made it clear to me that things aren't really working for a large part of the cohort. I have already noted drop off on remote attendance. We're getting around half of what we expect. It's a sad time but I have to inspire, mentor and pull these youngsters through to the other side. But it's a painful thing when you're committed to giving them the ultimate experience and to have them repeatedly mantra 'this isn't what I signed up for ...' back at you. Challenging times exasperated by the mental health crisis in some of the students. I was contacted by the mother of the girl who I spoke to when she was threatening suicide. A touching conversation ... moving. The poor girl spent Xmas alone, with Covid in one room in London, to only go home to be in total isolation for two weeks. Mother anf family are doing their best but understandably are worried sick. I have ... as II have with others recommended in this case a deferral. Let's see. But these are the painful things we tutors are facing on a daily basis as this lockdown and pandemic crisis eats away at the education these students were sold, were expecting and are now wondering will they ever get to create the films they came here to do? Onwards ...

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