Make Your Mark on History – KES Time Capsule to Mark Unprecedented Year

To mark the unprecedented events of the last year pupils at the Senior School are planning an exciting project to make their mark on history, by creating, collating and burying a time capsule, so that future generations of Edwardians will be able to gain an insight into the life lived and experienced by members of the KES community in 2020 and 2021. Like any time capsule, it will serve as a snapshot of a moment in history, a reflection of the School’s thoughts and perspectives and a mirror to hold up to the world around us. 

In launching the time capsule, the Headmaster said: “We want the Time Capsule to be about your world in 2021 and in particular about the last year that we have experienced. In answer to the question ‘what subject matter should you be considering?’, I would simply say ‘whatever comes to mind’. Inevitably, our lives over the last year have been dominated by Coronavirus and the global pandemic, resulting in lockdown and wider restrictions, as well as changes in our behaviour and how we approach the world and the people and institutions in our lives. But there have also been seismic shifts in politics, in society and culture, in the environment, in the language that we use, in our awareness of ourselves and others, perhaps even in how we view and think about things to which we previously might have paid relatively little attention. Many people have discovered new hobbies and interests and developed new skills. In some respects, obviously, the last year has been very limiting, but in others it has been liberating, with truly impressive degrees of creativity and innovation in so many aspects of our lives.” 

So what sort of things could go into the KES Time Capsule? The limits here are only imagination and size. An original piece of artwork or photography or writing would be very suitable, but ideally this should be something that can be easily rolled or folded up and not too big. It could be a booklet or a diary extract, a piece of film or music. It could be a newspaper or magazine article that has resonated or an image that captures the Zeitgeist. It could be a small object or series of objects that have come to acquire significance in someone’s everyday lives. It doesn’t have to be new or created, but could be something that exists already, perhaps something that a pupil has worked on or come across at school over the last 12 months or so. Ideally, of course, it won’t be something that might easily degrade. It might also be something of a digital nature, such as content on a memory stick or CD or SD card.

Commenting further on the Time Capsule during  this week's virtual Assembly, the Headmaster added: “Many of you will see this as an opportunity to celebrate the time in which we are living, but equally for others this might serve as a cathartic means of burying this past year, figuratively and literally. We are planning to put spades in the ground some time in the summer towards the end of the academic year, with a tentative deadline for contributions to the Time Capsule being just after the May half term. 

“I’m not aware of the School doing anything like this before, so I hope that you will be keen to get involved and to make your mark on history. In many ways, unearthing a time capsule should be like coming across an old photograph: it captures a moment, it is of its time, it has a story to tell to those who were there and to those who weren’t. It opens a window into the past and says ‘look at me – I am interesting.’ Good luck with this project – I am very much looking forward to seeing your ideas for the 2021 KES Time Capsule.”