Still busy

I am still alive and kicking, in case anyone should be wondering - and still up to my eyes. The phrase 'running to stand still' springs to mind! Three weeks into the term and I am getting into school at 7.40 and not leaving till 5 or 5.30pm, which is OK except that I am then going home to another few hours as well as doing yet more for most of the weekend. It is a situation I promised myself never to get into again when I went for voluntary redundancy three years ago and I feel frustrated that the job still spills over into most of the rest of one's life, instead of being able to be contained within a reasonable proportion of it. Not that I am alone in this. Most teachers I know or know of are in a similar position and the only reason that things were more manageable last year was because I had such a small class.
This year I started with 28, which have now increased to 30, of whom six are on IEPs (Individual Education Plans), which means extra paperwork and another half dozen could easily join them and, although they are Year 2, a large proportion of them find it difficult, if not impossible, to work independently.
On the plus side, this Saturday saw the start of my advanced diploma in Gestalt counselling, which should give me a window in my week to take my mind off the world of primary education.
Happy days!
Oh, and the conservatory is coming on nicely. Photos to come shortly.

No time!

So busy getting to grips with the new job this week and I've spent all weekend too. No time for blogging just yet. :(

Last day of freedom!

We stopped for breakfast this morning at the Little Chef at Halkyn. From there you can look across the Mersey and, on a clear day, you can see Liverpool's two cathedrals on the horizon. It was not a clear day!

Lunch was at Aberdaron on the Lleyn Peninsular but by then it was cold, rainy and very windy.

Keith is the figure on the bridge, refusing to turn round to have his picture taken.

Lots of heather around this year.

And me, battling with the wind at Uwchmynydd, with Bardsey Island in the background.

My horror-scope

YOUR LEO DAILY HOROSCOPE FOR TODAY
LEO - July 24th - August 23rd Taking stock of your finances is important between now and 2009. You may find you have to work twice as hard to make the money you need. Becoming more resourceful will give you more breathing room. All of a sudden, things that seemed like necessities will become wasteful fripperies. You'll be thrilled to discover you don't really need a lot of money to be happy. Putting your energy towards meaningful projects will keep your head above water.

This was one version of my horoscope for today. I hasten to say that, like most sensible people, I don't believe these things at all - at least, unless they sound good. So this one, given that I don't really attach any credence to it whatsoever, has me worried. Phrases like 'you may find you have to work twice as hard to make the money you need' and 'things that seemed like necessities will become wasteful fripperies' really are not what I want to hear when we're talking about my future. I was thinking more along the lines of a reasonable win on the lottery - not the big one, mind you; it doesn't do to be greedy, or becoming a much sought after and highly paid counsellor to - well, lottery winners and millionaires would do.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the reason I haven't posted for the last few days is because I have been busy in school, getting ready for my new class and other related activities. As from tomorrow, I am back on the treadmill that is the working week - teaching all day, marking and planning all evening and, while I am relieved to have this job until Christmas because it means money in the bank, a little part of me remembers why I gave up being deputy head teacher a few years ago (because I wanted a life), and then took voluntary redundancy a year later (because I was so frustrated with constant change imposed on the world of education by politicians striving to score points off each other.)

I still have a couple of clients each week at my placement who have not yet finished their therapy and in three weeks I am starting an advanced Gestalt diploma, which I am really keen to do but I am asking myself if I am actually my own worst enemy.

So the 'working twice as hard' bit of that horoscope could have a grain of truth in it after all.

And, for the record, my laptop and mobile phone will NEVER be considered as 'wasteful fripperies'!

End of the holidays

I've been in school most of this week, getting ready for the onslaught of the new class next week, but today, I was a 'lady who lunches,' albeit briefly as I caught up with some of the staff from last year's school. It was lovely to see them again. They are the nicest staff I have worked with. But it was also interesting to compare notes as they too have spent the last few days in their new schools. Today there were tales of teachers who still didn't know what their topics were for next term, which meant that they were not able to do any preparation for next term during the holidays, and those who had been given 8 new pencils for a class of 24 (I kid you not!) and 18 rulers for the same class, which meant that the teacher concerned was planning to go and buy extra over the week-end.
And if all this sound just too far-fetched, especially when you hear the government trumpeting about how many millions, billions of pounds they spend annually on education, I can assure you that this is, all too often, how it is in the real world of education, the classroom.
Me? I'm just keeping my head down and saying nowt!

Photos for Dale

A couple more photos for Dale. Nice engines we have over here, don't you think, Dale?

Bitton Railway

Today we went down the road to Bitton Railway which is a preservation society and very interesting if you are keen on steam engines, as Dad is.

I persuaded him that a trip in the train was a good plan for the day, so off we went, up to Oldland Common station and then back down to Avon Riverside station.

We could have interrupted our journey with a 40 minute boat trip on the Avon but instead, Dad talked himself into a second train journey, this time on the footplate!