Step 1: Find out what work you have missed

For each of your subjects, ask someone in your class or your teacher about what you have missed. They can show you and you can understand how much work you have to catch up with. 

Step 2: Try not to miss any more school

After seeing this huge amount of work, you may feel overwhelmed and confused on how you are supposed to catch up with previous lessons and stay on top of the current lessons. The best thing to do is not to add extra work on yourself and just try not to miss any more school. 

Step 3: Make a revision timetable and a routine

For the first few days or weeks of catching up, you may feel disorganised. My tip would be to create a routine with times designated to do work that is being set now but also times where you are completing tasks from the previous lessons that you missed. Try to focus on one or two different subjects every day and if you follow this, you will see progress. 

Step 4: Create to do lists with deadlines

Now that you have made a routine and know at which times you will study (remember to incorporate breaks!) you now want to start creating daily to-do lists with deadlines. I like to use my bullet journal and I can also migrate tasks for future dates. Plan every day and make sure what you have to do and this will keep you on track to finish the work. 

Step 5: Remove distractions

Now you may sit at your desk, your couch or the floor (wherever you study) but you don’t feel motivated to get started. Is it because you have your phone next to you? If so, remove your distractions and start being productive.

Step 6: Seek help from your teachers, friends and parents

Whether you are feeling stressed with this work, or you don’t understand the catch up work, I would advise you to seek help from your peers, teachers or parents. It is okay to share your feelings and get some help.

Step 7: Ask for a time extension

If your teacher has set a specific deadline for an assignment, and you feel that you cannot keep up with it, it may be worth asking for a time extension to your teacher so you have more time to complete it. 

Step 8: Don’t stress

Please do not stress. It is just not worth it and will end up wasting more time and energy than actually doing the work.

Step 9: Catch up on holidays

If you have a few tasks that are not urgent and you know you can delay, perhaps you could migrate it for the weekends or the holidays. Since lessons do not happen on the weekends or holidays, you won’t have the current lessons to go to and you can spend this time catching up. 

Step 10: Manage your time efficiently

Catching up is all about time management. When you make your routine, please do include some breaks and maybe some extracurriculars, skills or hobbies that you can also do alongside studying. This will ensure you are not getting bored with studying.

Those were some of my tips and advice on how to catch up. It is okay to catch up with work. As always, comment down below how you catch up with work when you miss school.

Please check out my other articles relating to Islamic content, My Experiences, Teenage Advice, Book Reviews and Poetry.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

My name is Surobi. I am a 15-year-old teenager who is among the 66.65 million people living in the UK who has been affected by this invisible virus. This article will be presenting some of the key highlights of how my life has been in these 6 months. 

March:

• Wednesday 18th March 2020 was the first day of lockdown for me. My school was partially closed but then on Friday 20th March, Boris Johnson himself announced a lockdown for the UK. This was the first time in billions of years that this ever had to happen. 
• Schools all over the country got closed down until further notice and GCSEs and A-Levels 2020 were cancelled, as well as people started working from home. This meant that as a Year 10 student, my GCSE Biology exams were also cancelled and I would get predicted grades from my Biology teacher. Most people slowly stopped eating out often including me and my family.
• There were certain precautions that everyone had to take which still exists today such as wearing face coverings outside, washing hands regularly and sometimes doing social distancing.
• I had to start doing online school where my teachers set me work through Google Classroom. Everyone had to adapt to staying at home for a long time.
• Since the NHS were and are the ones working hard and risking their own lives to save lives, the Government released a ‘Clap For Carers’. 
• On Thursday 26th March, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, himself got Coronavirus and even some other ministers got it too. 
• On Sunday 29th March, I made my first ever podcast which is known as ‘The Chat Library’ with my sister.We discuss all girl problems and we post twice a week still to the present day. This really boosted my confidence and pushed me out of my comfort zone. 

April:

• On Thursday 2nd April, I let my school friends know about my podcast which again pushed me out of my comfort zone but I got a lot of positive feedback and appreciation for it.
• On Friday 10th April, I started my second anonymous podcast which I will not share here but I also post there with my sister twice a week.
• On Thursday 16th April, I did my GCSE Biology Paper 2 Mock at home which was definitely a first for me and many others. 
• On 19th April, I started a mini series on my website where I shared 4 articles talking about my one-month experience quarantining.
• On Friday 24th April, Ramadan for us Muslims began, and this was the first time I was fasting in quarantine. Mosques were closed and families from different households were not able to eat together, but we went through Ramadan at home. Throughout this month and the next few months, I may have had a spiritual and religious awakening as I pray more and focus on my religion Islam.
• Boris Johnson was recovered after getting admitted to St Thomas Hospital and he came back to work. 
• As a person who used to watch Bollywood very frequently, I also found out that on 29th April, a famous actor called Irfan Khan passed away, and the next day Rishi Kapoor passed away (RIP to them both).

May:

• On 10th May, I started an Instagram for my podcast which is @thechatlibrary, where we post motivational quotes and podcast previews. 
• On Sunday 24th May, it was Eid-ul-Fitr which I celebrated at home and only went right outside my house to take some photos. Again, this was very different to my usual Eids.
• On Monday 25th May, one of the biggest tragedies which set a huge fire amongst many was George Floyd’s death, a man who was mercilessly killed just for being black. This went viral on social media, and people started raising awareness of ‘Black Lives Matter’ and even protesting outside during COVID-19. More people also started learning about racism and its history.

June:

• On 5th June, I activated my old Instagram @valuable.seconds and changed to @surobiscribbles. That is my personal/business account where I post poetry and photography. 
• My school decided to allow Year 10 students to come into school if they wished to only for 6 days before the end of the academic year. I did not go though.
•  On 14th June, I found out one of the biggest shocks ever. One Indian actor known as Sushant Singh Rajput passed away.
• On 20th June, I properly went out grocery shopping with my mother since lockdown began.
• Near the end of the month, I started having one-to-one meetings with my teachers via Google Meet and this was just such a new experience for me.

July:

• On 3rd July, a famous Indian choreographer called Saroj Khan passed away (RIP to her).
• On 17th July, it was the last day of school as a Year 10 student and on that day, I even went to Westfield Stratford with my mother. I took the bus for the first time since the lockdown began.
• On 19th July, it was my 15th birthday! I got ready, went to my local park with my mother, ate delicious homemade food and cut a small chocolate cake.
• On 22nd July, I met my three school friends after about four months at my birthday picnic. I, therefore, celebrated my birthday with my friends in my local park.
• On 24th July, I went to Lloyd Park with my sister.
• On 31st July, I celebrated Eid-ul-Adha by going to Gokyuzu Restaurant with my sister and this was the first time we ate in a restaurant since lockdown began.

August:

• Rishi Sunak, one of the Conservative MPs released the new ‘Eat To Help Out Scheme’ where you get a 50% discount on food or non-alcoholic drinks to eat or drink in (up to a maximum of £10 discount per diner) every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 3 and 31 August as many times as you like. People started going out much more often and posting food on their social media.
• I started promoting my podcast  and my website on my personal Instagram page @surobiscribbles. 
• On 20th August, along with the other GCSE students, I went to school (after about 5 months) and collected my GCSE Biology results. I reacted to it at home and told my family. Some GCSE and A-Level students had mixed feelings about this.
• Throughout the month of August, I had travelled to Lea Valley Park, Gokyuzu Restaurant,  Sahara Grill, Franzos , Koz Restaurant, The Urban Chocolatier  and also went normal grocery shopping.
• Near the end of the month, I disabled my Instagram @thechatlibrary (which had over 100 followers) and my Instagram @surobiscribbles (which had over 500 followers) for my own personal reasons.
• Chadwick Boseman passed away on 28th August 2020 (RIP to him).

September:

• On 2nd September, I went out with my friend to Walthamstow Wetlands.
• I also have done some back to school prep.

My school will be starting again from 7th September 2020 and I will, In Sha Allah, be going into Year 11.

These were some of the key highlights of what happened over the 6 month lockdown. It has been a very different experience. Of course, there is no denying that I did have some low and negative days but you know what, there were more positives than negatives.

I know that this COVID-19 battle has not ended yet and I know that the cases could increase in the future. All my thoughts go out to those who have either passed away, have had loved ones passing away and to every single person’s life who has changed because of this virus. Please comment down below how your life has changed due to COVID-19. 

Please check out my other articles related to experiences for more of the experiences I have been through or feel free to surf through my website for any other article.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day! 

With over 14 million cases of Coronavirus cases and over 600,000 deaths worldwide, everyone knows how big COVID-19 has been and the numerable impacts it has had on so many people. My name is Surobi, a 15-year-old teenager and I am one of the many people who have faced lockdown here in the UK due to COVID-19. As I have just graduated Year 10 while quarantining for the past 4 months, it has been quite a journey for me at home. So, here I shall tell you my somewhat 4-month review of quarantining and how it has changed my life just like it has for many others around this world.

Now before I get started, make sure to not compare how much you have done to me as I am privileged to be living with a supportive family who has been there with me this whole time, which may not be the same for everyone reading this. Now let’s go down memory lane:

I Created My First Two Podcasts

I wanted to create my own podcast for quite a long time as I actually love to talk, express my thoughts and connect with people. This lockdown was the perfect opportunity where I could have a flexible routine and incorporate a new side project into my life. So in April 2019, I started my first podcast ‘The Chat Library’ with my sister which now has over 25 episodes and some of my friends know about it. Soon after, I created another podcast too, and this is what I now do weekly.

 I Created My Instagram Pages

Another thing that I have managed to do is create my own Instagram pages. I have a whole Instagram  @thechatlibrary for my podcast and I have also started my personal Instagram page where I share my passionate poetry and photography known as  @surobiscribbles. I somehow also managed to grow about 60 followers in my personal Instagram account in just about 2 weeks (what!) This is also something I have incorporated into my routine. 

I Kept A Record For How Many Days I Can Stay At Home 

I am quite an adventurous person and I love to go out. However, this lockdown allowed me to challenge myself and push myself out of my comfort zone by staying at home. I think that it is possible to stay productive and motivated at home and even though going outside may be fun, you need to realise that you have to adapt to change and sometimes be flexible.

It Was More Inevitable To Have Low And Good Days

It is normal that as social creatures, it may be hard when you are suddenly just restricted to staying at home. I have realised that it is okay to feel tired of staying at home and having the discipline to stay as productive as you can be. But, also I have cherished the happy days such as celebrating my birthday at home and really enjoying the small, simple things in life with my nearest and dearest people like my family.

I Got Closer To My Religion

As a Muslim student living in the busy life in the UK, it can sometimes be hard to take a step back and spend some time on your religion. While staying at home, I have built good habits which have changed my routine. Through Salah, my routine is more structured and I know that Allah is there to help me in this uncertain time.

These were five ways that my routine has changed in this lockdown and some of these things will still be carrying on when I go back to school in September. 

All my thoughts go to those who have suffered in any way from this virus whether you have stayed at home for weeks or if you have a loved one who has sadly passed away from this virus. 

I do believe that doing these 5 things have made this lockdown which could have been a negative experience into a more positive one. 

Check out other articles related to COVID-19:

Remember to take care of yourself, and stay happy, healthy and well.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!