EDU-NATION

By: Louise Hale

About The Poem

During the Covid pandemic I felt compelled to write a poem from my perspective as a teacher on the experience I felt teachers, parents and children across Waltham Forest showed unity and comradery and I showed be celebrated. It also coincided with my reflection on why I wanted to educate children in the first place. I write the poem whilst I was delivering home learning and thought it would paint a picture of that moment in time.

The Poem

My desire to EDUCATE
Was to open the life skills gate for children
Who
Who couldn’t believe they could
Were too familiar with the I can’ts instead I cans
To get them thinking with philosopher hands
To plant the good seed long before they were ready to
water it
Cos
We all have a human right and need for our good seeds
to flourish
Malnourished by COVID We were not
The classroom was rationed
The nation called to arms
No qualms
We were virtually together alone
Parents and teachers joined forces and showed backbone
Now I don’t deny
Teachers chilling watching Netflix was party true
But
We were in this with you
Lockdown didn’t mean we logged off
Teaching from a distance
Not remotely sure kids could secure or fathom
Or Adam and Eve that their new classroom was the living room floor
I was ready to reach into my sticker drawer and applaud them for their adaptation
We were all in this together Edu-Nation
Lock down strengthened community – created unity
Us teacher’ we had to Google classroom a cyber-window to your world

To continue to teach children to continue to landscape those lockdown weeds and sow their
seeds.
Delivering food parcels
Supplying pens
Pencils
Paper
To the vulnerable
We weren’t comfortable knowing that for some home learning wouldn’t multiple
knowledge
But deduct
Sometimes it sucked
Teaching a screen not to give up
Home learning left children yearning
So lords and ladies
Excuse my freedom of speech
But I kinda wanna impeach the June return was too early
“During the Covid pamdemic i felt
compelled to write a poem from my
perspective as a teacher on the
experience I felt teachers, parents and
children across Waltham Forest
showed unity and comradery and it
should be celebrated. It also coincided
with my reflection on why I wanted to
educate children in the first place. I
write the poem whilst I was delivering
home learning and thought it would
paint a picture of that moment in
time.”
It saw children’s hands ready to burst
That thirst for rich play
I never envisioned my richest resource would be Detol spray

Teaching become about survival of the cleanest
That’s the way NOT to do it
Were we performing a Punch and Judy, cos something felt mega moody.
My desire to EDUCATE
Was to keep children safe in a place that helped them uncover
Not to help a virus discover a way to improve its grade or renumber.
Slumbering Politian
Yes
I wanted get back – help children prosper and fly but I didn’t wanna sit back and watch
teaching staff die.
When did state schools become a babysitting service so you could repoke the bankers
furnace.
Morse code for the many don’t matter. Going back too soon helped the virus scatter.
You should have been our aid, value life over economy, where was the comradery
My desire to EDUCATE
Was to help children make the right decision
Be better citizens
So I hope above all else during these two school closures
This moment of pause spawns a generation of health care workers
Entrepreneur
But most of all a new breed of politician that will one day make the better decision
Get to know the system inside out and with proper clout show you that their seed may have
been Waterlogged
Clogged
And flogged.
But see
Politician- us teachers- we love to sieve and give oxygen to young roots who will shun your
gases
respire
Stand up for the masses
Transpire
Dumb down your dire
And one day lead to inspire.