2020 Leavers
The time when we leave primary school for secondary school is usually a cause for excitement as well as anxious anticipation. For the primary school leavers of 2020, that anxiety was unfairly exacerbated as they prepared to leave their school friends and teachers behind in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. In educational terms, there were disruptions to learning structures and targets, the implementation of homeschooling, and the cancellation of exams. In social terms, there was an absence of school proms, end of year celebrations, school trips, discos, sports days, and shirt signings. These children, and other 2020 school leavers like them, were all short-changed in terms of their ongoing educational and social developmental needs.
These Year 6 children were photographed during the summer of 2020, during and after their final junior school year. Although UK restrictions were gradually easing, fears of a second wave of coronavirus (with tougher accompanying measures) remained ever-present in the background. All portraits were shot in familiar places to the subjects in keeping with their lockdown locations; places where their current situations and futures were likely given the most thought and consideration.
