Get some snacks ready...this is a long post - but one I think you should enjoy.
How are you keeping? If you were hoping for a Covid 19 update - you've come to the wrong place. I mentioned in the last blog post that you should limit your current affairs to a couple of updates per day from trusted sources - avoid the tabloid press (it will only convince you that either everything is absolutely fine or that we are facing Armageddon...the truth is almost always somewhere in the, often less exciting, middle. The last thing you need is for me to pile on any misery here. Just keep following the clear instruction from the medical experts: stay home, wash your hands, don't go out unless absolutely necessary.
I would love to see more of your creativity - please send me things you have been up to to make you a better person. This week I'll set a challenge. If you take a photograph with the brief: 'finding beauty in unlikely places' [keep it clean] - I'll guarantee you: a shout-out on the blog, a virtual pineapple, and even a positive phone call home (yes I still have remote access to hunt you down!).
Good News
Let's start with some positive news: above are two pineapples for very deserving young ladies. Lara C-M and Sasha K...well done you! Your emails made my day when they popped in to the inbox and gave me a genuine lift. Sasha has been walking the dog (a safe distance from others), cooking meals for her family and making some top-notch revision flash cards:
Lara has been painting some memes - this is so much more creative than just forwarding endless Covid memes (you know who you are). She has also been learning German through Duolingo - a fantastic languages app and a brilliant idea to replace enrichment from Wednesday afternoons.
Gut gemacht, Lara. Ich bin sehr beeindruckt! Ausgezeichnetes Kunstwerk.
The Latest from Chateaux Matthews
I've tried to follow my own advice to you - to avoid being accused of hypocrisy. With this in mind, I'm trying to achieve all of the following based on the advice I have given you:
1. 'Keep being a student' - To keep being a teacher, I have been marking some Year 10 assessments (the poor students had exam week before school was closed, so it only seems fair to mark their work first!)
To keep being a Head of Year, I'll be contacting parents and checking in with some of you this week and next (before what would have been the Easter holidays). I've got a list of students who haven't logged in to ShowMyHomeWork...I'm coming for you first.
2. 'Read' - I finished Maus, which I really enjoyed. I've also signed up to the Scribd app...which is giving free audio books for a month or so. If you enjoy books - but have been out of the habit of reading them for a while (like my literature classes!) - I would massively recommend it.
I'd also recommend the School of Life Youtube channel for 10 minute videos on a whole range of subjects. Many are quite clever and thought-provoking.
3. 'Find a project' - I recommended finding a project which kept your mind and/or body active and engaged throughout the school closure. Mine was the garden. I always thought DIY was horribly tedious - but something about becoming a dad has changed my view on a few things: you suddenly find bird-watching an exciting thing to do, you seem to care deeply about the ordering of cutlery in the dishwasher, you organise your recycling bins like a maniac and get very touchy whenever someone interferes with 'your system', and you start thinking that socks and deck-shoes are an acceptable pairing. Yesterday, I made the most of a baby-nap and the afternoon sun to do the border of the plants - washing and placing bricks was (weirdly) therapeutic. Next stop is painting the shed and fences and buying some festoon lights (Mrs Matthews claims they are 'important to create the right ambience). Spot the difference below:
Mrs M, meanwhile, absolutely smashed the window cleaning...
4. 'Have fun' - When the news is so bleak and sobering, it is important to have some fun too. Some friends of ours have been quite creative. We used the Zoom app to have a virtual pub quiz. A number of couples paid a modest entry fee - with the winning pair taking away a Deliveroo voucher for about £30. We came joint second...which was mildly devastating. I am nothing if not hideously competitive. The best part was that it relied on trust in everyone not just secretly Googling the correct answers...I have some intense suspicions about the winning couple - but this might be founded in jealousy of the KFC they had delivered an hour after winning...
We have also invested in a Portal - quite expensive - but it has enabled us to stay in video contact with family who are either miles away or separated from us by Government instruction. Here is Mrs M showing off how much our Alice has grown to her parents (Alice's grandparents). From 200 miles away, it's almost as if they're in the room:
Looking to the Future
Remember, in times like these it's important to think to the future - which for you remains very bright. As promised, I interviewed Chris, my brother in law, who is a chemical engineer at Sellafield plant in Cumbria. I asked him about: his A-level - career journey, his university experience, his recommendations to people considering engineering, and his 'social-distancing enrichment.' If you have any questions for Chris, or me, please email me/ comment on the blog and I will do my best to have them answered. If you find this interesting - please email me with some thanks to Chris which I can pass on (this would be very polite and might put you in the mix for a pineapple).
I studied Chemistry, Maths and Business Management at A-level (and General Studies) before applying to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham. I took lots of care and time and research to make sure it was the right university for me. I wanted to study somewhere that had excellent career opportunities, good facilities and a campus university close to a city. Birmingham had all of these, and I really enjoyed it there.
I wanted to do a ChemEng degree that had a couple of extra options which appealed to me. I wanted to have the chance to have a year-in-industry (for me this was at EDF's Heysham Nuclear Power Plant). I also wanted the option of an 'integrated Masters.' This is an extra qualification which was available to students who achieved a certain grade after their second year. It makes you more employable when you leave university and allows you to specialise in an area you are really interested in. My year in industry at Heysham convinced me that I wanted to work in nuclear energy - so I applied to be a process design engineer at Sellafield in the Autumn of my final year at university. I wanted to work there because it specialises in nuclear decommissioning and reprocessing - essentially managing how nuclear material is stored. I was attracted to Sellafield because it is world-leading in this field. I really enjoy my work. It's varied as there is a really well-established graduate stream (where new-graduates are able to rotate between teams in different departments) so that you can develop new skills and learn different aspects of the job before specialising.
If I had one piece of advice, it would be to research courses very carefully before making your UCAS applications. If you choose carefully, you could be making your adult, working life much more fulfilling. I'd recommend Chemical Engineering to anyone who is good at and interested in both chemistry and maths. Someone who likes problem solving and applying their learning in practical environments would also really enjoy it. We are also in high demand - so there are good career prospects for all chemical engineering graduates in a wide range of industries, from food and drink, to technology and energy.
'What have you been up to during this period of 'lock-down'?
Well, I was due to get married in May - which we have had to postpone sadly. We have re-booked it for the winter, however, so my wife-to-be and I have had some time to organise this and start to plan for the new date we have set. I've also done some reading and photography - but I'm running out of material in my own garden so I'm getting a bit frustrated. I am also applying to 'chartership' - which is another level of engineering qualification - and means I have to write a report and prepare for an interview.
THANKS CHRIS!
Guys, remember, any questions for me/Chris on this or anything else on the blog, don't hesitate to drop me an email. As I said before, the Change 4 me account is still covered by the pastoral teams at school - so do not suffer in silence if you are anxious about anything.
Take care, good health to you and your families,
Mr M
Saint John Bosco...
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