Lockdown is a stressful time for all – especially children who are not always aware of what is happening.

Lives have been tipped upside down but Beacon Hill and Solway Community schools have taken the upheaval on the chin and created lockdown diaries.

Deputy headteacher for Aspatria’s Beacon Hill Community School, Daniel Gee (pictured inset), helped organise lockdown videos to be sent in and shared with the children from the schools to help give them an insight into what is happening around the world while people are in isolation.

Videos have arrived from Thailand, Australia and America to name just a few. These have helped the youngsters to document what is happening in their lives.

Hoping to store the diaries in a time capsule so future generations are able to read or even study them, the pupils have given permission to the News and Star to share some of the entries.

‘TODAY I PAINTED MY BACK GATE’

Coronavirus, the huge worldwide pandemic, is affecting my life a lot. The coronavirus is a disease that originally came from Wuhan China.

There are a range of precautions we must take as my mum works in the community hub at Wigton. My family are always cautious of germs and always taking all the precautions the government are advising us to take.

Everybody must stay at home, except for very limited purposes.

People should only leave home to shop for essentials, to do one form of exercise a day, to fulfil any medical or care needs, and to travel to and from work where absolutely necessary. Non-essential shops have been ordered to close, and there is a ban on public gatherings of more than two people. Stay two metres (6.5 feet) away from other people if you need to go outside.

Today I started my day off by wishing one of my old primary school friends a happy birthday.

She said to me “it is nice to hear from you – stay safe, behave and don’t break any bones. You don’t want to go to A&E at this hard time, you would put yourself at risk. Watch where you are and don’t break a bone. Love you”.

Before I went outside to do some painting I made the tea for the family. It was a bit of a mix up – I got some meat and some vegetables hoped for the best chucked them in the slow cooker and turned it on. When it came to 6pm it was cooked and tasted quite nice.

Today I painted my back gate, a plant pot attached to the back wall and the wall brackets – I painted them with red oxide. It dried fast and it was a lot of painting to do. I must leave them to dry for 24 hours before I can do the coat of black paint.

I painted the outside kitchen window frame for my dad but first I had to scrape the flaky paint off, sand it and use a wire brush to take some of the paint off.

I did lots of jobs and helped my family.

THIS IS HORRENDOUS

By Iona Gibson

Today I was extremely bored for hours on end – it dragged for ages. I sat for a while watching television on the sofa with my brother and dad for a few hours – we were all watching a zoo programme called Bronx Zoo.

I made dinner for me, my brother and father. I started to be preoccupied from 11.30am till 12pm but when I completed making dinner after about five minutes I began to be bored stiff. I am continuously bored while I am not preoccupied. This is horrendous.

We have been in lockdown for one week however this week is the worst so far of lockdown. It was ok last week because I could go out for more than essential things. This week we have been restricted to going out of the house for only the essentials. This is very hard as I like being outside and meeting up with friends. However, it is hard to know that I am one of the at-risk people because I have asthma but it is not as severe as certain people have it.

I helped my dad build the bottom of a beehive – because my dad is a beekeeper he is able to do this as it is essential to keep the bees alive. This is also classed as agriculture.

The bees are reliant on us to stay alive because we have to keep stacking their hives up, otherwise they will stop reproducing and will die.

I helped my dad fix his angle grinder – he had worn the flexible cable and the wires were worn through and broke so we both mucked in and helped each other out and tormented each other, had fun and got it fixed. We were having fun but got the job done.

I painted the plant pot on the back wall in black paint and painted the brackets black.

IT CAN KILL PEOPLE.

By Josh Williamson.

Coronavirus is a deadly virus that is affecting people all over the world. It originated in China. It can kill people who have a weak immune system and the elderly. People are told to wash their hands for 20 seconds, cough into their elbow or catch it in a tissue then bin the tissue.

You’re not supposed to touch your face or another person and no more than two people are allowed at a gathering.

The schoolwork is not the best – I would rather be at school and see my friends than do the work at home. The work is not the hardest but it’s not the easiest.

Being at home is very boring – there’s not much to do except from jobs and chores