Mad Teacher

Ireland

We’re back from a wonderful stay in Ireland. I had thought I would just have to endure the weather and carry on regardless. I am very happy to report that no endurance went on as it really was beautiful, the weather was occasionally slightly wet but not for long at all and mostly lovely. In fact it was far worse when we hit British shores.

Here are a few pictures, for the record Kinsale was a lovely town but I don’t have any plans to return, County Kerry was stunning and I certainly want to return at some point.

Sorry clicking on the thumbnails doesn’t work but hopefully you can still see the pictures a little bit.

A general update

I thought I’d blog as it’s been a while and then I sit down ready to write and think so… what do I want to say?

Trouble is that life is going really well – I know, that doesn’t sound like a trouble does it? It does leave me thining that there isn’t much to tell you though. Still there must be things I have done or thought.

We went to Spring Harvest in Skegness this year, we weren’t going to but then about 3 weeks before hand my husband managed to persuade me it was a good idea and you know what? It was. I no longer go expecting to enjoy everything I go to but equally find plenty of snippets of things that make me glad I went. I loved Saltmine, infact they are what kept me going to the Big Top celebrations every night. I remember thinking the first night, brilliant, we are going to get songs that we know, that was until I got to the second night. I know people go to learn new songs but it is the fact that there are so many of them. Anyway I can’t say I stayed to all of the Big Top celebration each evening but I stayed quite a bit. Friends who I hadn’t seen for far too long came for a day and it was so good to catch up with them. They used to live round the corner from me and I drive past their old house at least twice a day, I really miss them. We had the added bonus of staying with other friends on the way, again it had been far too long since we had seen them.

Work is really weird at the moment, there are lots of changes about to happen and it feels like everyone is holding their breath waiting to see what impact it is going to have on daily life. Part of the problem of being at such a good school is that you know what you are missing if that changes! When I first started teaching I had no idea it could be like it is for me now. I hadn’t realised that every lesson didn’t need to be a battle. Working there is the thing that keeps me in Essex, I don’t want to dread going to work every day.

We have just booked part of our summer holiday – to Southern Ireland, a week in Kinsale. If you have any recommendations do let me know (and please don’t recommend giving Kinsale a miss as we have paid our deposit). We have also just bought a new tent, it’s very big but hopefully not too embarrassing to put up when there are only the two of us going to be in it. We have bought it partly because of Greenbelt (I gave in and said we could camp again once I saw the hotel had doubled their prices), we are also going to try it out for a couple of weekends here and there and are contemplating taking it with us to Ireland for a bit of before and/or after cottage camping.

I’ll stop now and try to find more interesting things to report in the future.

Perfect purple

It has long been an issue for me when talking about purple to explain the actual colour I mean. I know what purple is, I know it is the most fantastic colour in the world and yet people insist on thinking of it as something near maroon, which is simply so wrong it ‘scares me’ (a bit like Greg and John who are scared by so many flavour combinations I’m amazed they ever try any food at all). Anyway, the fact is that I know purple when I see it and yesterday I saw it and now I can tell people perfect purple is Pantone 268. If you know what purple is I understand if you disagree with me, it’s just that you’re wrong and I’m right.

Of course I accept this is quite a light version of the colour, it could be darker but this colour has to be the starting point.

Parent communications

One of my favourite letters from a parent recently was discussing ‘miss understandings’ – she HAD to become a teacher I think.

Saffron Walden

Just over a week ago we were looking for something to do to round off the holidays. Rather randomly we decided to go to Saffron Walden – the other option was Cambridge but we felt we should get up early to go there to make the most of it and the chances of getting up early were slim.

We didn’t really know what to expect once we got there but did expect a market town – which I suppose it what we got. It was lovely – even in the occasional sleet – but rather smaller than I expected. Still we had a good wander around the town, had a lovely pub lunch (I also had a cider which set me off realising I really quite like it again) and wandered into what is said to be the largest Parish Church in Essex. I really like the contrast of the dark sky with the sun light on the Church.

Typo error – oops

It has come to my attention that I didn’t spell Mr Mainwaring correctly, I had never thought about it before and had assumed it was simply Mr Mannering. I now understand the error of my ways due to a freakish google rating for my spelling of the word.

I urge you, searchers of the truth, to google the correct spelling of his name.

No snow day

The torment of hearing how many schools are closed in the area and still having to go in! Really quite something. I will say for my year 11s that they really are remarkably good at spreading rumours. The amount of times I had been told that lower school had been sent home (when I said I think we’d have noticed someone suggested that they had been made to leave quietly by just one exit!), there are also many teachers that have told them the school is about to close, one even heard the headteacher saying that he was about to close the school!

In reality school closed about half an hour early.

Come on snow, give us a day off!!!

Too tired

I’d blog but somehow I just can’t seem to wake up.

First day back survived

It wasn’t even too bad to be honest. I’m not raving about it or anything like that and I really would like a few more snow days please – proper ones where you’re told before you get up that school is closed. My classroom is normally oven like it it’s hotness but today it really wasn’t. My form were walking in and saying ‘wow it’s really warm in here’ – much like they always do – before realising that actually it wasn’t that warm at all.

I was angelic in the work I did yesterday in the hope that it would mean I don’t spend the entire term trying to catch up but unfortunately there are still a lot of things I haven’t done which should have already been done. I never claimed to be perfect.

Happy New Year

I’ve just decided that I should blog more often, some might call it a New Year’s Resolution but I made those vaguely the other day and they mostly revolve around trying to keep the house more tidy. I could say I was inspired by NaBloPoMo but I am a couple of days late already so that can’t be it. Perhaps I just feel I have neglected my blog and I don’t want to carry on neglecting it.

Anyway ressurrecting my blog at the moment I am meant to be doing lots of work for tomorrow seems like a very good idea. I have about 5 sets of tests to mark and I have a scheme that is only half written. What I should have done of course it take advantage of the bonus day off I got at the end of last term – snow I love you – but I was too excited to get an extra day of my holiday to actually take advantage of it in a sensible and boring way. So in proper last minute style here I am on the last day of my holiday about to attempt some work.

I’ll tell you a little bit about my Christmas holidays another time.