Editorial 12/2/2021

Dear Parents,

It has been a tough few weeks for everyone and I hope that you will all get the chance to decompress and get away from screens during half term. It can be easy to get depressed at the news of virulent mutations and the ever-receding possibility of taking a foreign holiday. However, I have been taking solace from the signs that spring is nearly here, despite the current arctic weather. Daffodils are pushing up through the grass in the parks and camellias are already in bloom. They are a reminder that all things, even the darkest days, pass in the end.

The other thing, which gives me hope, is the resilience of our young people. No one would have chosen the events of the past year and we would all wish it had been different. However, to see the creativity that has emerged which the HIPE teams demonstrate so magnificently has been heartening and even inspiring. From challah and pizza bakes to the project of some older girls to translate the Yiddish memoirs of Parysow, our students are showing how they can adapt and make the best of a strange situation. The learning which is going on is not always of the conventional kind, but we are all developing more skills in the digital world and these will be long term benefits which will help us as we return to a more familiar model of teaching- hopefully not too far in the future.

Wishing you a good Shabbos and a restful half term.

Mrs K Brice

Headteacher

Hasmonean High School for Girls