Mrs Moore’s Memo, Friday 24 April 2020

Posted: 24th April 2020

Dear children and young people,

Normally I would be shouting ‘yippee, it’s Friday!’ and relishing a lovely weekend – shopping, going out with friends, going to the cinema etc.  However, at least the sun’s still shining and I can have my lovely long walk in Sutton Park – again L (only kidding – I love my walks in the park)

I’m pleased to say that my tin whistle playing is improving daily and I even played it at 8pm last night when we were all out clapping for the NHS – I thought they were clapping for me at first!  My playing was, fortunately for my neighbours, drowned out by some lovely boys across the road who had vuvuzelas (look this up on Google if you’re not sure what one of these is) – safe to say, they are the noisiest things ever!  Moving on….to Shakespeare!!

I have also (as an English teacher) obviously been thinking about William Shakespeare as it was his birthday yesterday – he would have been 456 years old if he was still alive!

I’m attaching some interesting facts about Shakespeare (also known as ‘the Bard of Avon’ – ‘bard’ being an old-fashioned name for ‘poet’) and he is widely recognised as being the greatest poet the world has ever known.  Some of you younger children will have studied A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet and others have studied Macbeth (one of my favourite plays to teach) and Romeo and Juliet.   I only teach A level English Literature now and have taught a wide range of Shakespeare’s plays including, Antony and Cleopatra; The

Top Ten Facts About William Shakespeare (1)

Winter’s Tale; King Lear and, currently, Othello.   I love Shakespeare and ever tire of finding new ways of analysing his works.

Here are some funny cartoons about Shakespeare’s plays: Imagine if they could have texted! The play would have had a happier ending!

Vegan Witches during lockdown:

 

I do hope you enjoy reading Shakespeare’s play and, hopefully, seeing them performed (I certainly do!).

Anyway, ‘Enough of Shakespeare!’ I hear you shout, so I’ll move (reluctantly) on.

Did any of you stay up late the other night to see the 2020 Lyrid meteor shower?  I persuaded poor Mr Moore to sit in the garden with me for over an hour to look out for this once in a lifetime phenomenon – unfortunately, we

missed it! Absolutely nothing was sighted (apart from a few planes and our neighbour’s cat!)  If you were luckier than us and actually got some photos, please forward them – I’d love to hear from you!  Plus – don’t forget to look out for those Muntjac deers in Sutton Park as mentioned in my last email.

I continue to be absolutely delighted with the way you are all working hard and communicating with your teachers.  Don’t forget to contact them if you are stuck on anything and they will get back to you.  Also, don’t forget that we are here if you are worried, anxious, or lonely – or just need a chat.  Remember to contact me at seniorhead@highclareschool.co.uk  and, if you don’t want to talk to me – I can always pass your message on to someone else at school.

If, like me, you are someone who absolutely adores the sea and enjoys walking along lonely beaches, I’m pasting one of my absolutely favourite sea poems below.  John Masefield was poet laureate for the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967 – there are many interesting facts about him, but my favourite (as an avid reader myself) is that he was addicted to reading!  He was a boarder at Warwick School and had a very unhappy time there.  He left school early to board HMS Conway ‘both to train for a life at sea and to break his addiction to reading’ (this was frowned upon by his family – reading, not running away to sea!)  It was whilst he was at sea that he began to write and many of his works were sea-inspired.  My favourite of all time is Sea Fever:

Reading this poem takes me back to my childhood days and makes me, like Masefield, yearn to be by the seaside again.

Finally, I hope you all have a lovely relaxing weekend.  Remember to stay safe, be kind to yourself and to others (help with the housework too) and remember:

I am really looking forward to my fish and chips this evening – as you know from my last email, being deprived of my chips over these last weeks has been very hard to bear!

Sending lots of love to you all.

Mrs M

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