Dear Parent,
We are so relieved to learn the positive news coming out of China especially at this challenging time for those of us in other countries now similarly stricken by the coronavirus epidemic. We have learned from you how best to try to stop the spread of this highly contagious virus. As we distance ourselves from members of our family, friends and normal way of life your courage and resilience, especially those in Wuhan, lifts our spirits and strengthens our resolve.
We live in unusual times. None of us have ever witnessed disease on a global scale nor the economic and social ramifications it is having and will have, across the world.
“Quarantine”, “social distancing”, “you need to turn the mute button off!” Certain words and phrases crop up and are used much more often during this uncertain era. One phrase I have noticed many saying is ‘‘when this is all over’’. This phrase appears to herald a change someone intends to make in their life. It might be as simple as hugging a loved one or remembering to notice birdsong or a blue sky. It's a bit like the start of a New Year, when many of us make promises, resolutions, to live a better life in the year to come. We aim to get fit, read more, be kinder to one another. The global pandemic, however, sharpens our mind much more than 1st January. ‘’When this is all over’’ implies a change that so many of us across so many parts of the world now want to make in our own lives for the benefit of all humanity.
Rhiannon Wilkinson
Head of School, Shenzhen Campus
Now we all find ourselves living in a global near-death experience. Astonished at mortality rates, we shudder at how close death comes to all of us. This is why so many of us throw our imaginations forward to when this is all over. We find ourselves expressing a deeper appreciation for so many things we have all taken for granted. In the last few weeks, a number of countries in Europe have seen people of all ages standing at their doors and windows at the end of the day, cheering and clapping in a display of solidarity and gratitude for the health workers, caregivers and life-savers who are doing so much in this time of fear and loss. People go to their doors and windows and escape their isolation for a brief time of celebration.
I hope that “when this is all over” we will appreciate much more that our individual health is bound up in the health of everyone else and that we are all bound together and connected across countries and the world. I hope we will be less focused on our own lives and will see that love and the care of others are the most important things in life. “When this is all over”, I hope that we will all have learned the importance of community. “When this is all over”, we shouldn’t want just to go back to “normal” but to use this moment of solidarity to see the world differently and to work together to address the issues which will challenge our planet in the future.
Best wishes
Rhiannon Wilkinson
Head of School
