Column: Teachers really are superheroes, aren't they?

I always knew teachers were superheroes but today has made me truly appreciate that.

As I write it is actually Thursday and the schools are not closed yet.

We have been a little jumpy about the fact they were still open as the coronavirus continues to spread, as my other half has a chronic illness that puts him in the “at risk” category.

Once Boris and crew made the announcement that schools would be closing for the foreseeable on Friday afternoon, we took the decision to pull our boy out.

It was not a decision we made lightly, but one we felt necessary as cases of the nasty virus seem to be popping up more frequently now within our extended circle of friends and acquaintances.

Most seem to be mooching around the house with a temperature and will hopefully recover quickly and fully.

The thing is, without any widespread testing available yet, how can we really know who has been infected with Covid-19 and who just has a bit of a fever or a bad cough?

Either way, anyone we know with the slightest symptom is doing the sensible thing and self-isolating.

Anyway, back to the home schooling thing and how it has been in this household today. I have to admit the whole idea made me completely anxious initially. Knowing it was bound to happen, I did what I always do when faced with a task I have not tackled before – I panicked.

Aside from worrying about the actual disease and the elderly and vulnerable people in my life, suddenly being responsible for my kid’s education for potentially more than a whole term feels like a massive deal.

Granted, he is only eight, so not exactly GCSE or A-level material, but still. On that note, I need to send my love and commiserations to you if you or your child were about to sit exams this summer, having worked so hard towards them.

I can only imagine how tough this must be, knowing you now will not get the chance to prove how amazing you are. At the time of writing, the Education Secretary had not yet revealed how grades would be calculated, so this period of confusion and uncertainty must be weighing heavily on you.

Hopefully it is still some consolation your hard work will not go to waste and you will always be brilliant, regardless of whether you actually sat exams or not. With the right mindset, this will not hold you back and I am sure you will achieve all you set your mind to in the future.

Thankfully we have a Year 3 child, still learning his times tables and what a homophone is (I had no idea either, which is a worry in my line of work).

Still, I have never taught anything in my life and really did not know where to start.

I spent most of last night awake in a nervous sweat, wondering if I was going to mess him up for life because I do not know how to explain division.

You should know me by now – prone to drama.

I think part of the problem these past few days has been a complete and utter overload of information.

During these unprecedented times, people are being quite frankly wonderful, offering up a whole host of ideas and free online tools and resources to help with keeping the kiddywinks occupied and topped up with enriching activities.

Social media is absolutely full of it and I have been invited into countless supportive and informative groups, giving me zillions of options.

So much so my head actually started to spin with it all. Which ones are best? What shall we try first? What will he get out of it? How many hours a day should we be doing all this stuff?

I got myself in such a pickle about it all in the middle of the night, I had to get up, walk around a bit and have a word with myself. He is my kid, not my student. Before he went to school he learned plenty from me and his dad and I am sure, between us, we can do enough everyday stuff with him at home to keep him on an even keel and, most importantly, calm and happy.

This is all very unsettling for him too, no matter how thick-skinned he appears to be, so his mental wellbeing is the most important thing in my opinion. There are learnings to be found in most of what we do at home, like playing board games, reading together, baking, watching nature documentaries, role playing and running and jumping to keep his energy levels in check. Today the school has sent some worksheets home for the major subjects, so we are going to stick with doing some of those each day and filling the rest of it with just being us.

He will come out of this just fine and may even look back on it as a precious time we spent together.