During lockdown I was sent the following meme: ‘The Science graduate asks: “Why does it work?” The Engineering graduate asks: “How does it work?” The Economist asks: “How much will it cost?” The Arts graduate asks: “Do you want fries with that?”’
As an Arts graduate and English teacher, I was, like Queen Victoria, not amused. The Arts, like many other sectors, have suffered hugely during the pandemic and for a long time were ignored for financial support. Yet how much harder would lockdown have been without books, music, films and TV?
You may remember the whole furore around the government adverts encouraging ‘Fatima’ the ballerina to retrain for a job in ‘Cyber’ (which doesn’t even make grammatical sense, but don’t get me started on that!). I have a pupil who is one of this country’s most-talented young ballet students. Like any other athlete, the hours she puts into training alongside her GCSEs is incredible and her technical precision and sheer talent is extraordinary. Why is it that the years of training for careers such as these are seen as so much less valuable than STEM subjects?
From exams to everyday life - do we assume the worst?
The weather is (finally!) warming up, the days are lengthening as we approach the summer solstice, hay-fever sufferers are monitoring …