SCHOOL closures may have posed a challenge for many a household, but they’ve also brought out some upbeat reactions with parents sharing the funny side of the new-look school day.

They’ve certainly inspired Katherine Turner, from Wincham, who’s penned her experiences of home schooling her two children, Annabelle and Vincent, in a tongue in cheek poem that other parents may relate to.

The 39-year-old’s comical take on the current situation details her dismay at Boris Johnson’s announcement to close the country’s schools before highlighting the ways she tries to keep her kids motivated, all the while resisting the temptations of a bottle of wine.

Katherine, who works for Screwfix, said: “It’s only been two weeks, but it feels like it’s been forever – it’s driving me mad, but I’m sure it’s like that for everyone.”

Katherine came up with her poem while getting ready and completed it in one sitting.

She said: “I quite often get the urge to write poems. This just popped into my head while I was putting my make up on the other day and it all came out in one go.

“I was thinking about what we’d been doing that week and then lines kept coming to me. It’s all based on things that actually happened. We’ve been trying to keep up with their schoolwork, but they’ve also been helping me get ‘life skill’ tasks done in the house and garden too, just to break up their day.”

Annabelle is 14 and attends Knutsford Multi Academy Trust and Vincent, who is 11, was in his final year at Wincham Primary School.

Katherine said: “I think it is quite strange for them. Annabelle is OK, she’s just getting on with her work. It’s a bit harder with Vincent and it’s a shame because he was in his last year at primary school so he’s missing out on that.”

Katherine says that although it’s proving to be challenge for her and husband Dominic - who are both classed as key workers - it’s also nice to be able to spend so much time together as a family.

She said: “The hardest thing for the kids is not being able to go out and see their friends, but they use Facetime, House Party and computer games to keep in touch so it’s not too bad. I don’t know how we’d have got through this when we were their age – we’d probably have run up huge phone bills!”

Here’s Katherine’s home schooling poem in full

I can’t believe this is happening, oh my gosh is this true? The schools are closing, you’re joking aren’t you?

I switch on the tele, it’s that funny bloke, he said we are home schooling, it isn’t a joke.

It could be six months, what the hell am I to do? I’ll be an alcoholic – a grey one too!

OK, day one, get up and ready to start, but before we can Vincent lets out a fart.

When the air is clear, we try again; gosh things have changed since I was 10.

I give up, it’s all too intense, I will give you a brush, you can paint the fence.

I’ve decided home schooling just isn’t for me, so we will be doing life skills like making a good cup of tea.

We will do some reading and how to plant seeds, washing the pots and other housework deeds.

No way did I realise how hard this would be, that bottle of wine better stop looking at me.

Hats off to the teachers, what an amazing job that they do, I only managed one day and barely go through.

I put them to bed, how knackered am I? Another day tomorrow, I think I might cry.

Ahhh the best time of the day, I step into the bath, then I hear ‘MUM!’, oh you’re having a laugh.

I shout: “What do you want? It better not be a poo”, then I hear a reply: “Mum, I really love you,”.