A Guide to Smashing Year 10 Dear readers and fellow lovers of things, I go to a school in England in which my GCSE course began officially in Year 10 giving me the chance to pursue subjects that I had selected myself alongside those that were necessary. Year 10 appealed to me as the year when things would ‘get real’. The year when my responsibilities as a student would heighten, the year that yearned for more work and revision and the year in which I would do what I love, the subjects that I loved and any extracurriculars that I already had loved. The latter appealed to me the most but I was very happy to enter Year 10 knowing what to do, or at least having an idea of what to do. Year 10 has had its challenges, as every year does, but I hope to pass on some lessons that I have learnt in the past few years that may guide you in the future. This blog post is a bit long but it essentially covers these points: 1. Build good foundations before year 10. 2. Revise. 3. You don’t have to be the...
A Teenager's Post Lockdown School Reflection Dear readers and fellow lovers of things, This year has personally been eventful, not only due to lockdown. I have learnt a lot and gained perspective. Entering lockdown was scary. School was to an extent my lifeboat and if I hadn’t been for my hobbies, my schoolwork and one wonderful teacher (who kept in touch over email at the start of lockdown), I would have struggled initially. Lockdown hit everyone hard, didn’t it? Others were hit a lot harder than me. I was one of the ‘lucky few’ anchored into a sense of normality by qualifying as a pupil who could attend school from the beginning of lockdown to the end of school in July. Being able to go to school has definitely been a highlight of this year. I willingly lost myself in my schoolwork, progressing in English and enjoying painting for Art. I ran yoga sessions with my director of pastoral care. I went on walks almost everyday with teachers at my school! If I was writing this blog pos...