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“Now we can play all day… with coronavirus out of our way.”
Children have written and performed a song explaining their thoughts and feelings about lockdown.
Nick Thomas, who teaches in Cardiff, used music as a way for his pupils to express how they have coped with not going to school and seeing friends.
“It’s been hard enough for adults and often we assume children will roll with the punches. But for some it has been difficult,” he said.
They wrote lines about protecting the NHS, missing relatives and being confused and scared by coronavirus, with Mr Thomas writing the music.
The idea to create Out of Our Way came about after the routine of going into schools and homes to teach guitar was put on hold at the start of the pandemic.
While Mr Thomas found he could conduct classes online fairly easily, he realised it still was not the same as being with the children in person.
He added: “One of my pupils was quite overwhelmed seeing her friends on Zoom as she had not seen them for a while.
“Football has been cancelled and other activities, so it has been a great way of reaching them, keeping in touch and maintaining some sense of normality.”
Since Mr Thomas started teaching in 2018, he has found youngsters have enjoyed writing their own songs as much as learning those by artists such as George Ezra and Ed Sheeran.
So he thought music would be a good way of gauging their thoughts and feelings during lockdown and also trying to do something positive together during what has been a tough time.
The lyrics, written by pupils from Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd in Cardiff, illustrate how the children miss their friends and family and want to be able to play again.
It has lines such as: “We miss our grandparents so much even though they don’t live far” and: “Now we can play all day, with coronavirus out of our way”.
All the children sent in video clips of them dancing to the music and these were used to create a video.
Out of Our Way will raise money for the children’s favourite charities.
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