Creating Heritage: A diary during Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Part Twelve

Over the last year, I have had numerous requests from my team for me to write my ‘Talking Heritage’ blog, and unfortunately I have told them that I was too busy each time. Now, following a week that is sure to go down in history, I have stopped and taken the time to reflect. My job at Canterbury Museums and Galleries is to preserve our City’s heritage and culture, making sure it is relevant and engaging to all. We spend time thinking about what and how we ‘collect’ objects that help uncover our history and tell our story, as well as which we might dispose of, so that we can make room for the new. In this time of uncertainty and unorthodox decisions, I have decided that instead of choosing an item to talk about from our collection that I will start a new collection. From today, Saturday 21st March 2020, we will document the everyday lives of our community as we pass through this point in time.

Michelle Moubarak, Museums and Cultural Programme Director

Day 78: Saturday 6 June

Today is my 11th birthday but I cannot celebrate it how I want to. I can’t go out that often due to quarantine caused by the coronavirus. So I went to Deal and had fish and chips for dinner with my family, two of my uncles, my nanny, my grandad and 2 of my cousins. Unfortunately, we could not be near each other and had to stay 2 metres apart at all times. I felt sad that I couldn’t go close to my family and had to spend the day without going near them. We all sat on the beach and had fish and chips in separate circles 2 metres apart.

Even though I could not go near my nan I still had fun playing with my brothers and sister and football with my cousins and uncles. The weather started off sunny but later as we got ready to leave it began to rain. So we had to have my birthday cake under a tree at a play park and the wind blew my candles out before I had a chance to.

Before the coronavirus I wanted to have a birthday party but my mum has said I can have one for my birthday next year. I am looking forward to going back to school on the 15th June to see my friends.

By Gary, a pupil from a Canterbury School

Day 79: Sunday 7 June

Today I woke up at 8 o’clock. It’s a bit weird not going to school in the morning but I’ve got used to it. I watched the Simpsons on the TV for a bit and then for breakfast I ate some cheerios and an egg and then I had a shower at 10am I started work.

I did maths like I usually do then I did science after that, then I did some literacy. Everything is getting quite repetitive doing the same thing every day. At 12 I did art. I had to make a picture of my garden but it started raining so I had to finish it indoors.

For lunch I had noodles and then I did some more science. I couldn’t go out because it was too rainy but I played some games indoors. For dinner I had a chickpea curry and then I watched a movie and went to sleep at 9 after reading a book.

By Ewart, a pupil from a Canterbury School

Day 84: Friday 12 June

Dear diary,
I’m going to tell you my about my journey: my experiences in lockdown. Lockdown started on the 15th of March 2020. Lockdown meant that we had to stay inside of our houses to stop the virus from spreading. We could only go out for essentials which were: essential shopping, one bit of exercise and for any health problems. On my first day of lockdown I was very happy because I had more time to do things and it would give me a chance to clean my room and bits like that and I was quite pleased that I didn’t have to go to school, but at the same time I didn’t want school to shut because I knew I would miss my friends.

On a normal lockdown day I would do home schooling. I would wake up a bit later than a normal school day as we didn’t have to drive to school. When I did get out of bed I would put on some clothes and go downstairs to have breakfast and get ready to do Joe Wicks. Joe Wicks was like our PE teacher but on tele. He went live on Youtube everyday and he would do lots of workouts and sometimes little PE lessons. After that I would have a ten minute break and sit down and relax before I started my lessons for the
day. After Joe Wicks I always do my maths so my mum would print it of for me, then I would get started. In a basic home schooling day we would always do maths and literacy but in a school day that’s not at home we would always do that anyway.

When you are working from home it’s a bit harder than actual school because you didn’t have a teacher that could explain to you fully but it didn’t matter because my mum would always be there to help me. Now I’m at school in a smaller class. I don’t mind being in a smaller class actually because, if I’m honest, it’s a lot quieter than being in a class with lots of people. Being at school makes me really happy that I get to see my friends before I head off to secondary school. Everyone is hoping that lockdown will be over soon. On the bright side at least we’re all safe!

By Blossom, a pupil from a Canterbury School