Knowledge Day, 1 September 2020

A good first day of school to every pupil, and to the teachers who have spent the summer preparing for several different versions of this year.

This morning does not look like the others. Fewer people in the yard, parents kept outside the gate, classes arriving at staggered times, and the ceremony reduced to something short.

The flowers are still there. That part apparently could not be reduced, and I am glad, because for a first-year pupil the flowers are most of the point.

What I would say to the teachers today is that this year will be improvised, and improvised well or badly depending almost entirely on them. That is an unreasonable amount of weight to place on a profession, and it is where the weight is going to sit.

A good year to everyone starting one this morning, in whatever form it takes.