What a fantastic day. I visited two schools today, one for a key stage 2 (junior school) job and the other for a KS1 (infant school) job. I liked both the schools and after looking around and talking to the headteachers I will definitely be applying for both jobs. The school I saw this afternoon is not your average school. Here is what Ofsted said about it a couple of years ago:
"According to the 1998 Index of Deprivation, the ward where most of the children live was ranked as the most deprived in the South East Region, and the 49th most deprived in the country."
The children come from all sorts of backgrounds. There are 24 languages spoken in the school and many of the children do not speak any English at all when they start school.
In spite of this, I got a really good feeling about the school and the headteacher was very laid back and friendly, giving myself and the other potential applicant lots of useful tips regarding the application & interview process. Despite telling us this job was "not for the squeamish", she said she would be happy to receive an application from us and promised that if we were successful, we would receive good support for our Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) programme.
So, with no more schools to visit this week, I thought I'd relax a bit this evening. We were all laughing as Big J stomped up and down the living room wearing my shoes (yes, my nice shoes which I wear for interviews etc..). We all stopped laughing, however, when he stood still, looked down and not only filled his pants, but also did a wee on the floor and into my shoes which he still had on his feet! That's not the worst of it (although I'm glad I was not the victim the second time around). All cleaned up and sitting at the table eating (yes, they pick their moments perfectly!) Big J covers his face with a magazine and makes a very loud "bottom burp" noise, followed by another and yet another. Yes, he had filled his pants again. It was not a pretty sight (or smell) and certainly not one you would welcome at the dinner table. So, PP decided to take him up and put him straight into the shower, pants and all. However, as PP was getting the shower into where it needed to be, he accidentally let go of the pants' elastic and unable to move out of the way quick enough, got a face full of spray from the soggy contents of the pants.
Well, I hope that if you are reading this (if you have managed to get this far)you have already eaten. If not, Bon Appetit!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
And she's off......(not sure where yet)
Although I have theoretically been looking for a teaching job for a few weeks now, I feel like I actually did something proactive (ooh haven't used that word since working for the bank) about it today. I visited a school and the headteacher was just lovely. She sat us all down and told us to relax, she wasn't interviewing us. She told us about the school and a bit about how she likes things done. She seems very laid back and I got the impression that she really cared about the children's education, which is not as common as you might think. Two year 6 children showed us around the school. They were so sweet, despite being almost ready for secondary school (no idea why anyone would want to teach secondary). This afternoon I arranged 4 more visits to various schools in addition to the one I am visiting tomorrow. A couple of them are in deprived areas so it will be interesting to see what sort of problems they have with behaviour etc. Having done one of my placements in a school in a deprived area, I would have to make sure that there is proper support in place and a clear behaviour policy before I apply to work there.
Little Z went to a Drama group for the first time this afternoon after school. She loves role play, pretend play, making up stories, dancing, singing etc so I though this would be perfect for her. She hated it! The lady running it was quite abrupt and I think little Z felt a little intimidated by her. She did join in with the activities, but had tears in her eyes when I picked her up. I asked the lady if she could maybe pay weekly for a couple of weeks to try it out to see if she liked it. I was told that if she wanted to come next week she could have another trial which would cost £10 (this first week was our free trial) but after that she would have to decide whether she wants to go again or not. Considering the fees for the whole term are £84 which would pay for her to go every week up until Christmas except for half term, I was not prepared to enrol her and pay her fees without knowing little Z was happy. We are not going next week.
Had another go at bubbles this evening. We decided to use the fan to blow bubbles and see if we cold fill the living room with bubbles. We couldn't, but we had fun trying.
Off now to find out about the school I'm visiting tomorrow.
Little Z went to a Drama group for the first time this afternoon after school. She loves role play, pretend play, making up stories, dancing, singing etc so I though this would be perfect for her. She hated it! The lady running it was quite abrupt and I think little Z felt a little intimidated by her. She did join in with the activities, but had tears in her eyes when I picked her up. I asked the lady if she could maybe pay weekly for a couple of weeks to try it out to see if she liked it. I was told that if she wanted to come next week she could have another trial which would cost £10 (this first week was our free trial) but after that she would have to decide whether she wants to go again or not. Considering the fees for the whole term are £84 which would pay for her to go every week up until Christmas except for half term, I was not prepared to enrol her and pay her fees without knowing little Z was happy. We are not going next week.
Had another go at bubbles this evening. We decided to use the fan to blow bubbles and see if we cold fill the living room with bubbles. We couldn't, but we had fun trying.
Off now to find out about the school I'm visiting tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Bubbles
I have just spent the last 20 minutes blowing bubbles and found it so relaxing that I just had to tell everyone (not that everyone (or indeed anyone!?) reads my blog) about it. I bought the kids these "Ice Cream" bubbles from Tesco a couple of weeks ago and they are the best bubbles I have ever seen. They are colourful, they don't keep popping before you get a chance to blow a bubble and you can blow loads and loads of bubbles all at once, even though they only come with a normal little bubble wand. They are also scented, so if you buy the pot which looks like a chocolate ice cream, the bubbles smell of chocolate. (They don't taste of chocolate though, which little Z found out to her cost.)Cool hey?!
"What is she doing standing around blowing bubbles when she should be looking for a job?" I hear you ask. Good question, to which I do not have a sensible answer other than the fact that bubble blowing is addictive and although I had not intended spending 20 minutes having a competition with PP (yes, he was doing it too!) to see who could blow the biggest bubble or to see if we could blow so many that we could not see each other, it is a bit like having a bag of Haribo and saying "that is the last one now, I will save the rest for later." It is not as easy as it sounds.
On the job front, I am going to visit a school tomorrow in a nice area on the suburbs of the city and am visiting another on Friday. I am getting really tired of people asking if I have a job yet, so I need to get one very soon just to shut them all up (Apart from that, we could actually do with the money!) I know people are just concerned, but it reminds me of having a baby when people just keep phoning you up to see if you have had it yet.
Well, got to prepare for that visit tomorrow to make sure I ask all the right questions. Bye for now...
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Playing catch up
Crikey. I didn't realise how long it was since I last updated my blog. That probably means everyone has got bored and has stopped checking in to see if it has been updated.
So what have I been up to since my last entry? Well, those of you who also read Seany's Blog will already know that all my nagging did in fact pay off and my children, PP and myself were (eventually) honoured with a visit from the infamous uncle Seanie, during which much fun was had, the most memorable of which was our visit to Lepe beach where Big J decided to run into the sea and Seany duly followed. Big J can lead anyone astray, even his uncle who, as he himself admits, really should know better! As if I didn't have enough washing to do, Big J not only decided to cover his clothes in sea water, but added a few blood stains to this (and his dad's T'shirt) as he took a tumble off his trike and used his face as a brake. Luckily it looked worse than it was and although he had a fat lip for a couple of days, he was not seriously hurt.
We had a couple of guitar sessions, in which Seany played and I sat holding my guitar, pretending I could play. I bought the guitar about 6 weeks ago having never played before and with the intention of teaching myself how to play. It is harder than it looks. I still intent to stick at it though, as I think a teacher should be able to play at least a few chords on a guitar and it will be very useful when I haven't a clue what to teach as you can always shut kids up by singing. I would also like to learn to play the piano, which is something else Seany can do and I can't, but then he had a piano to practice on (yes, he was bought a bike and a piano! - spoilt is not the word (no, it really isn't the word!))
Since Seany returned to "The North", Little Z has gone back to school and ballet and although the school term has started and I am a teacher, as I do not yet have a job I have not gone back to work. I am, however, in the process of applying for 3 jobs in schools locally and so I hope to be in work by January. Unfortunately, I do not have the option of being a lady (I use the term loosely) of leisure until then. I have to enter the depths of "Supply teaching!". Maybe it isn't so bad, but if you went to a school like the one I went to and saw the way the supply teachers were disrespected, you would also be a little nervous.
On a more positive note, I have joined weight watchers online and after my first week, I have lost 4lb. Yippee! Feeling great about this, I entered the weight into my online weight tracker, expecting some kind of praise from the weightwatchers site. Instead, they displayed a message thanking me for entering my weight this week and then telling me that the recommended amount of weight loss is 2lb per week and that losing more than that means I am likely not to keep the weight off. Well, I know that you shouldn't starve yourself because this is not an effective method of weight loss, but I have been following their point system and eating the right amount. In these early days of my diet, I really could have done with some encouragement. If I wanted to be told I was doing it wrong I would have phoned my dad. I have about 6 stone (ouch - damn Haribo) to lose and I know it isn't going to happen over night, but as being officially "very obese" is also having detrimental effects to my health, I have been advised to lose weight, but to take it slowly and not to expect to be skinny by Christmas! I will settle for being skinnier by Christmas.
So what have I been up to since my last entry? Well, those of you who also read Seany's Blog will already know that all my nagging did in fact pay off and my children, PP and myself were (eventually) honoured with a visit from the infamous uncle Seanie, during which much fun was had, the most memorable of which was our visit to Lepe beach where Big J decided to run into the sea and Seany duly followed. Big J can lead anyone astray, even his uncle who, as he himself admits, really should know better! As if I didn't have enough washing to do, Big J not only decided to cover his clothes in sea water, but added a few blood stains to this (and his dad's T'shirt) as he took a tumble off his trike and used his face as a brake. Luckily it looked worse than it was and although he had a fat lip for a couple of days, he was not seriously hurt.
We had a couple of guitar sessions, in which Seany played and I sat holding my guitar, pretending I could play. I bought the guitar about 6 weeks ago having never played before and with the intention of teaching myself how to play. It is harder than it looks. I still intent to stick at it though, as I think a teacher should be able to play at least a few chords on a guitar and it will be very useful when I haven't a clue what to teach as you can always shut kids up by singing. I would also like to learn to play the piano, which is something else Seany can do and I can't, but then he had a piano to practice on (yes, he was bought a bike and a piano! - spoilt is not the word (no, it really isn't the word!))
Since Seany returned to "The North", Little Z has gone back to school and ballet and although the school term has started and I am a teacher, as I do not yet have a job I have not gone back to work. I am, however, in the process of applying for 3 jobs in schools locally and so I hope to be in work by January. Unfortunately, I do not have the option of being a lady (I use the term loosely) of leisure until then. I have to enter the depths of "Supply teaching!". Maybe it isn't so bad, but if you went to a school like the one I went to and saw the way the supply teachers were disrespected, you would also be a little nervous.
On a more positive note, I have joined weight watchers online and after my first week, I have lost 4lb. Yippee! Feeling great about this, I entered the weight into my online weight tracker, expecting some kind of praise from the weightwatchers site. Instead, they displayed a message thanking me for entering my weight this week and then telling me that the recommended amount of weight loss is 2lb per week and that losing more than that means I am likely not to keep the weight off. Well, I know that you shouldn't starve yourself because this is not an effective method of weight loss, but I have been following their point system and eating the right amount. In these early days of my diet, I really could have done with some encouragement. If I wanted to be told I was doing it wrong I would have phoned my dad. I have about 6 stone (ouch - damn Haribo) to lose and I know it isn't going to happen over night, but as being officially "very obese" is also having detrimental effects to my health, I have been advised to lose weight, but to take it slowly and not to expect to be skinny by Christmas! I will settle for being skinnier by Christmas.
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