My new teaching term starts tomorrow. And just like everyone in charge of classes which are finding their feet again for the first time since March, a lot of thought has gone into how to make them work safely for everyone involved.
And then last Wednesday I heard about a company on the radio who were making their employees take annual leave if they had to stay home with a sick child who couldn’t go to school. And I wondered at the short-sightedness of this decision.
Because if you penalise people for doing the right thing, they won’t do it for long.
And then where will we be?
So I wrote to my students, telling them that for anyone who misses a piano lesson because they or someone in their family are doing the right thing by isolating, or staying at home awaiting a test result or feeling unwell, then that lesson will be made up at a later date.
Because it’s easy to stay at home when you’re not missing out on anything. We all found that out in March and April. But when there’s more at stake the decision isn’t always as clearcut. So we need to make it easy for people.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again, and I’d like to wish luck to everyone else in a similar boat.
Kieran's Blog 