Tuesday, July 17, 2007

After a long break from writing anything on this blog of mine, I’ve decided to post some of my Happy Thoughts.

I’ve come into work this morning feeling unusually chipper! I only have three days left at my current school and then it’s the SUMMER HOLIDAYS!! In September I start my new job as Second in Science in a school that is only 10min walk from my house (not sure if this will turn out to be a good thing!).

This last term has been a mixture of emotions and experiences. Losing my tutor group was a sad affair. I never realised, until they were gone, how much they have been an influence in my life over the past five years. They have been a constant source of entertainment for me. They have shown me compassion when I was sick, made me laugh when I was down and supported me when I tried to give up smoking. As a leaving present, they had a photograph of themselves framed with comments from each member. I very nearly cried! Also in the goodie bag was a 125yr anniversary Tottenham Hotspurs T-shirt, a Guinness mug, several corny ‘teacher’ poems, a soft toy, a wooden praying mantis model and written confirmation of my second Teaching Awards Certificate! In return, I photographed, mounted and framed each member of the group’s portrait and took them all out for dinner at Pizza Express. The dinner was a laugh and they all signed a Pizza Express paper hat as a reminder of the evening! I shall miss them all.

Today, I was presented at the door of the staff room with (what looks like) a very good bottle of red wine by a PE teacher colleague of mine. This was quite unexpected; however, I’m not complaining! She has been a solid member of staff at the school for nearly 25 years and, right from the start, has been a kind of mentor to me. My lasting memory of her will be when she slipped ‘off-piste’ during the ski trip. From my vantage point, it looked as if she had skied off of the mountain!! In fact, she had only fallen down a bank of soft snow. How I panicked that day, so, as a memento, I think I shall present her with a first aid kit during my leaver’s speech.

I have a lesson now so I shall sign off. It’s the 10W group, ‘W’ stands for Work Experience! You can probably guess the kind of children that are in this group? I will be copping out and watching the ‘Mystery of Life’ evolution video with them. Not a total waste as it is still ‘Science’, but a doss nonetheless.

Have a good day my friends.