A mother revealed the ‘reality’ of lockdown teaching by showing her husband hosting an assembly in sweatpants with a row of gin bottles behind him – which he cleverly hid from view.
Lucy Evans, 39, from Wolverton, Milton Keynes, couldn’t help but take a picture of her husband Ed, 41, while he hosted a Zoom half-term awards ceremony on Wednesday.
In the snap, the head of year eight at Bedford’s Biddenham International School was smartly dressed in a blazer, shirt and tie, but was sneakily wearing grey tracksuit bottoms off-camera.
A well-stocked row of alcohol bottles was also lining the worktop behind him, which he cleverly hid from view using crafty camera angles and a blurred background.
Lucy Evans, 39, from Wolverton, Milton Keynes, couldn’t help but take a photograph of her husband Ed, 41, (above) as he taught in sweatpants with a row of alcohol bottles behind him
Ed said he wanted to make an effort for his ‘amazing’ year group’s rewards assembly, but thought he could still get away with wearing some casual tracksuit bottoms.
Speaking about the amusing moment, Lucy explained: ‘I thought “I’ve got to get a picture of this”. It just made me laugh.
‘The top half [of his outfit] was like him going off to school normally while the bottom half was him at home.
‘It’s the reality for a lot of people at the moment. He uses a blurred background.
‘When he’s on a call, all you can see is him and a blur around him.
‘He always sits there and it didn’t even occur to me that there were gin bottles in the background. We just have them on the side because they look nice.’
The head of year eight at Bedford’s Biddenham International School wanted to make an effort for his year’s rewards assembly (above), but thought he could get away with the sweatpants
But eagle-eyed Facebook users were quick to notice the generous row of alcohol after Lucy’s post racked up an impressive 50,000 likes in less than 24 hours.
Lucy, who is a train planning manager and a mother-of-two, continued: ‘Some people were laughing about the gin.
‘That’s why I had to go back and edit it [the post] to say nobody would see it because he blurs the background.’
Ed was quick to explain that he blurs his Zoom background for a ‘little bit of privacy’ as he admitted that lots of people had mentioned the hoard of gin bottles.
Ed sneakily hid the alcohol bottles from view with a blurred background during the half-term awards ceremony (above)
The teacher said the most important thing for him is finding somewhere to teach where his children cannot disrupt the call, revealing his youngest daughter Lily, three, came in and ‘waved’ during the assembly.
Ed explained: ‘The blurring is really just because it adds a slight little bit of privacy.
‘You can have fancy backgrounds but for me it’s just a bit of a blur.
‘I would obviously think about what was in the background, but I wouldn’t say the fact I’ve got some alcohol in the house is shocking for any of our students.
‘A lot of people made reference to [the gin]. It’s my home so if the kids are here with me [it dictates] where I sit.
‘If I’m in the lounge there’ll be a blur, but I might have a window behind me.
‘To me, it’s more I have photos of the kids really and to stop them coming into the Zoom call. I have a three-year-old who came into the assembly and waved.’
Speaking about her ‘funny’ husband’s fashion choice, Lucy admitted Ed had gone the extra mile by tucking his shirt into his tracksuit bottoms to stop it ‘riding up’.
Ed admitted that the most important thing for his Zoom classes is finding somewhere to teach where his two daughters, Lily, three, and Iris, seven, (all above) cannot interrupt
She continued: ‘Normally for [online] school he dresses in his normal clothes, like a jumper, t-shirt and pair of joggers, but he said “this is a special assembly so I’m going to put my suit on”.
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‘He got dressed and put his suit on but put his joggers on the bottom. He tucked his shirt in and everything.
‘I said to him “why are you tucking your shirt in?” He said, “well if I don’t tuck it in it all rides up”. He said “this don’t see the bottom half so it doesn’t matter”.’
Ed claimed his unique fashion statement wasn’t the ‘norm’ as he was trying to make the assembly ‘a bit special’ for his pupils as they prepared to break up for half term.
Ed continued: ‘It was our half term rewards assembly for the year group.
After sharing the photograph on Facebook, Lucy was left gobsmacked after her husband (both above) went ‘viral’, admitting she had to Google the term to find out what it meant
‘Each week I do a live assembly and there are about 200 students in our year group.
‘This isn’t the norm. I wanted to make it a bit special because we were doing rewards,
‘I might normally wear a suit or tie and shirt at school, so I thought I’d posh up online.
‘I thought “well, no one’s going to see the bottom so what’s the point in doing the bottom”.
‘That was my thought really, that the kids would all see and think “well, he’s gone to a bit of effort”.’
After sharing the photograph on Facebook, Lucy was left gobsmacked after her husband went ‘viral’, admitting she had to Google the term to find out what it meant.
Ed revealed the trials of lockdown teaching, admitting his daughter Lily (pictured with Lily and Iris) burst into his year-eight assembly to say hello to his students before she went to nursery
Lucy said: ‘I just literally snapped the picture. I initially put it on my Facebook and thought everyone was going to [laugh] at it.
‘He’s got a very dry sense of humour. He’s a very funny guy.
‘Most people know him for his dry sense of humour. When I showed him the picture he laughed and said “this is the reality of what I deal with everyday”.
‘We know a lot of teachers and parents, having two daughters of our own.
‘[After posting the image online] my phone went crazy. Within five minutes there were about 3,000 likes. I never expected people to react that way.
‘I was joking with Ed last night that I think I sent him viral. I had to Google it to see what that even meant.’
Ed, who didn’t realise his wife had taken a snap of him, said it shows ‘how things are for teachers’ during lockdown and applauded his students for being ‘amazing’.
Lucy was quick to praise her husband and other teachers, revealing that Ed has also been teaching their daughter Iris, seven, as well as his own classes
He continued: ‘I didn’t realise Lu had taken the photo. It’s part of how things are for teachers.
‘[Sometimes] the doorbell goes and there’s a parcel that you’ve got to pick up.
‘Just like the kids, with their connection issues and their difficulties that they’re having at home, it’s the same.
‘Kids have been doing amazing despite everything.’
While Lucy was quick to praise her husband and other teachers, revealing that Ed has also been teaching their eldest daughter Iris, seven, as well as his own classes.
She gushed: ‘I take my hats off to teachers – I really do. He works constantly. He’s also been teaching our seven-year-old on the side too.
‘It’s an excellent portrayal of what’s going on at home with home schooling.’
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