Ballakermeen high school headteacher Adrienne Burnett (pictured above) congratulated students, parents and teachers for how well they coped during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the school’s annual prize day, held at a full capacity Villa Marina, Mrs Burnett said it was a privilege to serve at Ballakermeen, where she has been head teacher for the last 20 years.

Based on her long career in teaching, she explained: ’I can therefore say with confidence that demands on teachers have increased year on year because I have worked through 41 years of change.’

She went on to praise teachers for how they coped with the increased burden of responsibilities as a result of Covid-19, saying: ’Teachers also have families and commitments of their own.

’As well as preparing lessons for you, some had their own children to look after, or were caring for vulnerable relatives.

’Some had no Wi-Fi and would have to drive to a school and sit in the car park to work.

’Others racked up hundreds of pounds’ worth of phone bills, using their own data.

’There are teachers with health issues who were locked away for three months with very little interaction with anyone outside of the home, but they still delivered lessons.

’Others came into school to teach the children of key workers, helped by support staff who ensured that the school was clean and families were fed.

’All of this undertaken when we didn’t know that much about coronavirus and there was much uncertainty about the risks.

She also praised parents for how well they adapted to the need for home schooling, saying: ’I must thank our parents.

’We train for four years to become teachers.

’In lockdown, as well as looking after the family, many parents were working from home, worried about what the future might hold.

’In addition, to looking after the family, parents had to learn how to teach different subjects.’

Mrs Burnett praised the resilience of students during the uncertainty caused by the disruption Covid-19 caused to exams, saying: ’I look at the students in this hall and I am amazed and humbled in equal measure about how you coped.

’In my 41 years of teaching, there have been stand out times for the best and worst of reasons.

’One of the defining moments is when I went into a Year 11 assembly to prepare students for the possibility that school would close and exams might not happen. Of course, I could not say that explicitly because the decision had not yet been made, but it was looking extremely likely.

’Our GCSE students were three weeks away from sitting Cambridge Board exams.

’It’s hard to imagine what it must have been like for students to suddenly be told ’everything you have been working for has been cancelled’.

’One student said it was like being on the starting line for a race, body in peak performance, in position, utterly focused, to suddenly have the race stopped.

’Instead the grades they received were calculated by the school.

’Our overall pass rate may have increased, but that was because the system we used is fairer than external exams. ’It did not have to take into account a student being ill or having a bad day.

’It was based on empirical and detailed evidence of individual students over a sustained period of time.

’It was not based on sitting a three-hour exam, hoping for good questions on the exam paper.’

She then asked year 12 and 13 students to stand up, and Mrs Burnett asked the audience to applaud them for ’their resilience, maturity, strength of character and wonderful exam results’.

She added: ’Of course, everyone in this room has been amazing, whether you are a teacher who learned new skills, a student who worked hard, or one of our leaders who has forged a way through in a time of unprecedented challenge.

’As an island community, everyone played a part and let us acknowledge by giving everyone a round of applause, whether they are here with us today, or not.

’Thank you.

’As an island, we are in a strong position, especially when we see how difficult it is in other countries.

’We did not come out of this unscathed though and I know there are people who have suffered personal tragedy, or are worried about the future.’

Entertainment on the day included a Key Stage Four dance group, student bands Glitch 256 and The Baguettes, pianist Macy Tyrer and singer Ebony Tate (pictured left).

Year 10 student Abby Vance also wrote a poem about Coronavirus, which she read with fellow student Daniel Lawrie.