A particularly artistic arrangement, curently on loan to the Tate (not!) 

Boxes

I would say that, by and large, Keith is an easygoing sort of fellow - eccentric, definitely, but easygoing, except when it comes to boxes; you know, otherwise known as cuboid storage containers. When it comes to boxes it wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration to say that the man is verging on the fanatical - as in, they absolutely must never, ever be thrown out or otherwise disposed of.
Which tends to result in a superfluity of cuboid storage containers in what is, however you look at it, a fairly small house. In other words, wherever you go around the house, you end up staring a box in the face - except in the bathroom, and I believe he is working on that.
These boxes tend to have been erstwhile receptacles for such fascinating objects as video cards, memory cards, sound cards, CD writers, plus the heavy mob - printers, monitors, DVD players. They are situated in the most unexpected places - beside the dining table, under the stairs, on top of the music centre as well as......wait for this.......in the 'box' room! Yes, this is a house where the box room is just literally that, as well as being the model aeroplane room and the exercise bike room, but that's another story.
When I first met Keith, he had a very interesting colony of boxes which had taken root in his living room and seemed to be really thriving, but I think today's arrangement is unsurpassed in its artistic flair and imaginative juxtaposition (see photo). You never know, he might start a new trend in home decor. Forget Changing Rooms, you saw it here first!!

Withdrawal symptoms

I must be suffering from withdrawal symptoms but I found myself looking at the Times Educational Supplement on the web today and I found
this . Unfortunately incidents like this are not as uncommon as they should be and they epitomise much of what makes the job so difficult and stressful for teachers these days.
Is it a general lack of parenting skills in some of today's parents, or is it just that, in the short term, it's easier to give in to a child? Or is there a general feeling of guilt among them that  lack of time and attention  can be compensated for by being spoilt in other ways? Of course today's society focuses on people's rights while quietly ignoring their responsibilities and this has filtered down to the next generation. The result is that even pupils of primary age are aware that if they get into trouble at school, all they have to do is go home and complain to their parents who will then come rushing into school to inform the teacher that whatever happened couldn't possibly be their Johnny's fault and no, they will not support the school in any punishment or sanction.
Naturally all this takes place in front of the child, who is then reinforced in his belief that anything he does is O.K. If the parent is also violent towards the teacher, what does that say to the child?
Which leaves the teacher with a problem. What sanctions are there for future occasions of disruptive behaviour? Exclusion? The government aren't keen on that and have made it more and more difficult over the past few years. Besides, the excluded child is then free to wreak havoc outside school and frequently does.
But it also leaves all the other pupils with a problem - all those who just want to get on with school life and could do with a bit of the time and attention that the teacher is having to spend on one child.  Every disruptive child in a class means that all the others are missing out and their education is being compromised.  So it's good to see the message sometimes getting through that teachers are not there to be pilloried for the results of parents' shortcomings!
 

Are we really safe???

I read this yesterday with a growing sense of disbelief mingled with a lack of surprise when I had finished it! So these are the people entrusted with our safety! Don't hold your breath folks.
Maybe he was away when they did map-reading skills at school. Maybe one of Keith's PDA's with sat.nav. would have come in useful. :)

Good friends

 
On Monday I said good-bye to Jean. Not a final good-bye because we'll still keep in touch but the end of an era. Jean is no longer an employee in the education world, having taken early retirement a few years ago, but we go back a long way. I first met her when  I went back to teaching full time when my youngest child was eighteen months old and she is now 21 so that will give you some idea. I got a job in a nursery class of a primary school and Jean was the Nursery Nurse there.  I was there for 4 years and then moved on to the school I have just left and a year later, there was a job vacancy which Jean applied for and got. The rest, as they say is history.  Jean retired a few years ago for health reasons but has still come in once a week to help me with art in my class. She is very artistic but, more than that, she has the gift of being able to get even the most unartistic child to produce something good.  I have never known anyone else to be so good at that. She also has a wonderful rapport with children and they always looked forward to the days that she was in school.
We have never socialised much out of school although we were at one time founder members of 'The Prozac Club' which met every now and then for a meal and a moan about the world of school! But we have supported one another through difficult times - her blood pressure problems, my depression and stress and she has been a good support through some of the life-changing times I have experienced over the last three years.
Jean is a much valued friend - the sort that should be cherished because there aren't too many of them around - and if there is one thing I will miss from my previous life in teaching, it's her weekly visits on a Monday afternoon. We will keep in touch but things won't ever  be quite the same again.

My new ex-teacher image? It's a possibility :) 

Free agent!

Well, they say all good things come to an end. Day zero has dawned. Good-byes have been said (or not, in certain cases outside my control!), the children have waved farewell to schooldays until September, mums have stocked up on paracetamol/tranquillizers for the duration and I have trekked across the Runcorn Bridge for the last time.
The surprise party Remember?
was a great success, thoroughly enjoyed by all and, I'm afraid, paid for by many this morning! In spite of not hitting the sack until 1.30a.m. I woke at 5.55a.m. ready to leap out of bed but remembered just in time that I am now a free agent.
The weather is beautiful, the sun is shining, I have no marking or preparation to do. Welcome to the first day of the rest of my life :)
Demob happy teacher? Ecstatic ex-teacher is more like it!

Criccieth

Yesterday's trip was to Criccieth, to visit another castle here.
Although the core of the castle was built by Llewelyn (remember he of the Beddgelert story?) it was later grabbed by Edward I. (Very rude, these English kings - just barge in without a by your leave!) Keith and I had our photo taken by a nice young lady but Keith didn't like it so it had to be deleted. (He said it made him look too fat - as if!)
From there we went to Portmeirion here, where the cult series 'The Prisoner' was filmed back in the 70's (for those of us who are old enough to remember those halcyon days).
Look here for our photos