From the Head of School

 ISA's Flashbulb Moments

The psychologist Claudia Hammond noticed how a curious thing happened to our sense of time during lockdown.  One day was like the next, so we would have expected time to have hung heavily.  And indeed in any given moment time felt slow, but looking backwards from those slow moments we were often surprised that a week or a month had passed.

Hammond explains that the “blurring of identical days leads us to create fewer new memories, which is crucial to our sense of time perception.”  We may have lots of Zoom calls or Google meets but these experiences were all of the same type.  Days, weeks and months slipped by without us noticing.  

What psychologists call ‘flashbulb moments’ are essential to the creation of lasting memories - not just of the event itself but of the constituent details.  When I recollect a friend from primary school I don’t visualise them sitting near me in a writing class, but racing against them at Sports Day.

Variety in school activities is not just essential for motivation, it is intrinsic to the retention of knowledge and skills: it is not just time that slips by when one day blurs into another.

This week Grade 5 have been creating their own flashbulb moments at Nethybridge.  For some, it will be their first experience away from parents; for all, it will be an incredible time building relationships with their classmates and teachers, gaining a greater understanding of themselves and others. 

Trips provide life’s flashbulb moments.

And middle and high schoolers are just ten days away from global citizenship week, going on residential trips in Scotland, the rest of the UK and Europe. They will have to navigate new experiences with classmates, developing the qualities of citizenship - being: risk takers, open minded, caring and reflective.  

What makes these experiences truly  meaningful, is not the store of images, but the deepening of values and the development of relationships.  

If your child has just returned from Nethy Bridge or when they return from one of our many other amazing trips, ask them if time hung heavily or zoomed past!