Friday 19 June
It is encouraging to read that the government are expecting all children to return to school in September. At the moment only Years R, 1, 6, 10 and 12 can attend and not all of them are choosing to. The schools operate very differently and, especially for the younger children, the warmth is missing.
The problem is, I have absolutely zero faith in this government. I decided to relax all political affinities during this pandemic. I mean, how political can it get when dealing with something like this? What has angered me though is the very obvious differences between the rich and the poor; and sadly how this government don’t seem to care.
I am involved in planning and delivering the remote learning provision for our learners. We have some of the most vulnerable young people attending our schools. Too many have very limited or no access to technology at home on which you do their work. Many have no broadband. They cannot afford it.
Meanwhile, others attending private schools or schools in more affluent areas are receiving up to five hours of live, online lessons each day. Now, I don’t have an issue with that. I do, however, have an issue that other children get near to nothing because they cannot afford the technology. Our society is fundamentally unfair and it feels, yet again, there is little desire at the top to change things.
I need a natural lift after all that. I’m going to return to the insect photo competition that we had on our walk last Sunday. Mark took these pictures of two butterflies. I confess that when I briefly scanned them I thought they were one and the same but they are clearly different. Another example of why it’s so important to properly look at stuff, especially in the natural world. You are rewarded if you do.
I first thought this (above) was a Gatekeeper butterfly but then saw the Meadow Brown and struggled to distinguish between the two. But I read a little further, and looked a little closer. The Meadow Brown tends to rest with wings closed and only has one white dot in the eye-spot, whereas the Gatekeeper rests wings open and has two dots. Ha!
The Bald Birder 