'Do you have a girlfriend yet?': Pupils open time capsule letters to self

Four years ago, with the UK beginning to emerge from its latest Covid-19 lockdown, teacher Damaris Bateson asked her new intake of Year 7 students to write letters to their future selves.

In the letters which they opened ahead of sitting their exams, they pondered what the world would look like by the time they sat their GCSEs.

Would face masks still be needed? Would they achieve their hopes and dreams?

For then 11-year-old Charlie, there was one question at the forefront of his mind.

"A childish question, but do you have a girlfriend yet?" Now 16, Charlie blushes as he reads his letter back.

On Thursday, he will be among of hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to receive their GCSE results.

It marks a significant milestone in their education after years of disruption from the pandemic.

Despite the challenges she faced at the time she began secondary school, Vanessa wrote about her hopes of studying at Columbia University in New York.

"Don't let nobody [sic] distract you from your studies, but also don't forget to have fun."

Vanessa wrote a letter to herself during the pandemic which also said "Never stop trying"

Vanessa sheepishly admits she used to argue with her teachers when she started at secondary school "because I didn't get my own way".

"But I respect everyone now," she says as she breaks out into a beaming smile.

"I realise I'm not the only person in this world."

Classmate Eve told her future self to "tell your grandma and grandad you love them every day".

"Remember you are loved and continue doing great," she wrote.

"Don't be negative, think positive and become successful."

Eve's letter ends with two questions, each with a tick box for yes or no.

"Are you still happy?" and "Do you still want to be successful?"

Four years on, her unwavering positivity remains.

"Absolutely", she says, confidently tapping her fingertip against the boxes marked 'Y'.

The letters were written on 12 March 2021, the second day back in school after the latest lengthy lockdown.

Head of Year Miss Bateson asked her pupils to write the time capsule letters after realising her pupils' transition from primary school to secondary school had been "really disrupted".

Damaris Bateson has been head of year for the current cohort of Year 11 students at her London school since September 2020

"A lot of them had been out of school for months at that point," she says.

"It was quite an isolating experience."

Charlie's letter described how he was "scared I'll test positive out of nowhere", while classmate Fisayomi wrote how "it was tough not seeing friends and family".

"Right now the world is not so good," Fisayomi said in 2021.

"By the time I am in in Year 11 I hope it [Covid] is gone."

He is now back doing what he loves, playing football with his friends Gabriel and Daniel, who he's known since he was three years old.

But the entire secondary school education of this year's GCSE cohort was shaped by the impact of the pandemic.

First, they spent months learning from home.

Then they returned to school in 'bubbles', with restrictions on which parts of the school building they could enter and who they could socialise with.

Fisayomi says they would spend entire days "just sitting in the same room".

"You'd have the same classroom for every subject. You wouldn't move for the whole day."

In some classrooms, windows were left open to reduce the risk of infection.

"Everyone was wearing their coats because it was freezing," says Charlie.

"It was just strange."

They weren't alone. Schools across the UK had to adapt to ever-changing Covid restrictions throughout 2020 and 2021.

Reflecting now, Fisayomi says his year group showed "perseverance" to adjust to life at secondary school in the midst of a pandemic.

"It was hard to keep going and going," he says.

Next month, the Covid-19 Inquiry will explore the impact of the pandemic on children and young people.

Vanessa, Eve, Fisayomi and Charlie all started secondary school in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic

When Damaris asked her students to write their letters in 2021, she wanted to instil "confidence, motivation and self-belief" during a difficult time.

But she says revisiting the letters shortly before they sat their GCSE exams this year was a reminder of the ambitions they had for themselves.

"For some of them, it was: 'My younger self believed I could do this.'

"I loved seeing their reactions and I'm phenomenally proud of them."

Vanessa still wants to study architecture at Columbia University and Fisayomi hopes to become a lawyer.

Eve doesn't quite know what she'll do after GCSEs, but is "100% adamant" she will be successful in whatever she does.

As for Charlie, he plans to study A-levels in History, English Literature, French and Latin - but he's still looking for a girlfriend.