Summer

Well I'm finally feeling relaxed, after working until the beginning of August I was totally exhausted! We went on holiday to Tuscany for two weeks, staying in a little studio cottage outside San Gimignano. It was hot at exactly what we needed - relaxing with some sightseeing thrown in, to some of many walled Tuscan hill-towns including Volterra (home of Twilight's Volturi!!!!!), Monteriggioni, Certaldo and Siena. It was gorgeous!!

Back to England with a bump, it's quite muggy but cloudy here, and I'm worried my nice tan is going to fade far too fast!! After a chilled weekend, I've started the week organising documents, sorting out all my files from my training, and trying to get organised before going into school this afternoon/ tomorrow to start doing my planning for next term! Feeling a bit anxious about starting the term, and realising I'm going to be solely responsible for the learning and progress of 30 9-yr-olds for the whole year, garhhh...!! I'm sure it'll be fine, the school is very supportive and everyone is helpful so I know I'll have help if I need it.. but still! :/

In other news, we got a cat in July and after a panic when she escaped for nearly 2 weeks, she's settling in well, she is very playful and affectionate. I do love her very much even though she miaows all night and then wakes me up at 7.15 every morning!!

I'm going to stop faffing around online now and get on with some NQT stuff.

BFN!

A week in Bromsgrove

It's been great this week doing something completely different!

On Monday, I drove up to Bromsgrove to help set up IH Bristol's first summer school there. I'm working with my lovely friend who I've worked with a long time until I defected to state-school teaching! We also have a great team of teachers, so it all boded well! We had a couple of days of induction; setting up the teachers' room, discussing IH policies, levels and testing ready for the arrival of the teens (78) and kids (27) on Wednesday. It's all gone pretty smoothly and we've all settled into a good routine - we live just off site in a boarding house, all meals provided and access to the gym. So we're eating extremely well, but at least we have the opportunity to work it off!!

I came home on Friday evening and the plan was to spend the weekend camping (well, glamping in a nice little cabin) and visiting the Cheddar Gorge and caves before supporting my other half in the Cheddar half marathon on Sunday. However the delightful British summertime has scuppered our plans - with flood warnings for Somerset we decided against shivering in a box all weekend and stayed home instead. It's been quite productive though - we did a bit of DIY, put up a table in the kitchen, got feeding bowls and litter trays all set up for our new arrival tomorrow!! We're picking up our cat tomorrow, and very excited to help her settle in and get to know her!

Of course we've been watching lots of tennis - Serena Williams winning her 5th Wimbledon title, and now we're enjoying the Men's doubles, wooo!! Very very excited about Murray's final tomorrow, and hoping the weather is bright.

It's been lovely to be home (and warm and dry) and just relax for a bit before heading back northwards tomorrow evening.

.. and I'm done

So I thought my last blog was overdue.. It's now been 8 months since my last post!! Apologies, blogfans, if you're still out there!!

It's been a pretty busy few months, got into my GTP, had some lows and had to really pull my finger out to get it done. After a struggle with confidence, I managed to sort myself out and I was relieved to be signed off with a good report at the end of May. I finally finished my teaching block on Friday. I had the Year 3 class, and although they are a really challenging group, I was really sad to leave them as I was just starting to feel like we were building a good relationship and trust, especially with the trickier characters. We trainees had our graduation ceremony on Tuesday. Of the 15 who started, 11 of us finished, so a real achievement for us all.

I also got a job for September, but I was so stressed for a while, as I sent out 17 job applications with only 1 interview.. so I am thrilled that I'll be working at my swap school permanently after the summer. I can't wait! I really enjoyed my block there and I'll have the Year 5 class which is exactly what I'd wanted.

Tomorrow I start a 4 week contract back at my old job, it's also going to be really busy but much less pressure than the last 9 months!! I'm looking forward to meeting my new kids and doing a bit more admin instead of lots of teaching.

Away from work, all is well. We're off camping next weekend, and picking up our new adopted cat!! It's very exciting. More details will follow about her I'm sure. We'll be off up to Scotland for a few days at the end of July for a wedding and big family catch up in the Northeast, and we're off to Italy for a couple of weeks in August. Really looking forward to a massive rest before starting to look forward to my NQT year!

Oh, I just also add that I've been getting fit this year too. In January I started Crossfit, which is fab and although I can only make it once a week, I've noticed a difference already in my shape and strength. I'm starting to enjoy exercising and have also rejoined pilates, and gave Spin ago (probably for the first and last time...) I'm going to have to have a few weeks off, but luckily I'll have access to a pool and gym so hopefully I can still get some exercise ready for putting my bikini on in August...!

I'll try to post more regularly..!

Hasta luego!x

overdue update!

I can't believe it's mid-October... I never update this blog any more!!

Been pretty tired since starting my new job/course. It's going well though and I'm really enjoying the experience. I've not done much teaching yet, but have my first teaching block coming up in about 3 weeks.. Getting on well with my colleagues and the children seem to be responding pretty well to me in general... we'll see about their responses to me when I'm actually teaching them..

Other than that, my parents moved house and are now delightedly at home in Weymouth. We visited last weekend and it was lovely to be beside the seaside! The house is lovely but Mum's looking forward to putting her stamp on it, and Dad's looking forward to making the garden his own. Moving the Scottish one properly into his flat this weekend, Ikea tomorrow evening and we need to get hold of some paint and stuff to try to get going on the facelift the walls and ceilings need. Off to a wedding on Saturday afternoon, so it'll be nice to catch up with some old friends and the family who will all be there!!

Thank goodness it's half term next week, a chance to catch up on some sleep, writing up my notes, and having a lovely friend from London coming to visit!!! Yay!!!

And now it's August..

It's my second day off since I left my job on Friday.

I have a lot of work to do, and after a lazy, unproductive day yesterday I sat down and and had a look through my notes and evaluate what needs doing! PHEW!! There's a massive reading list and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to buy all the books... and how I'm supposed to read everything before the 1st September!!

I'll get started properly on it all tomorrow and might drop an email to my training manager about the most important things that need doing before I start. I'm going to read through my Maths and English books and have a go at the pre-induction tasks... I guess any extra reading I have time to do is a bonus!

My other half moved back to the UK, to Bristol, two weeks ago. He's staying up the road with a friend and has just had an offer accepted on a house which is very exciting. It's great to have him close by!!

Last weekend was pretty busy. Friday was my last day at work so everyone came out for drinks. I was given some lovely gifts from everyone which was really touching!! Then on Saturday we went to the rugby in Cardiff for one of my (former) colleagues' birthday. It was a great atmosphere in the Millennium Stadium, drinking Brains, and trying to out-shout the Welsh (and the Scottish guy sitting next to me ;) ). Frankly, England played rubbish and really Wales weren't that great but their defence was much better than the English side. We then had a bit of a drama getting the bus back to Bristol but made it in the end!! Then we had a fab curry before going our separate ways!

This weekend we're going back home to Mum and Dad's - possibly for the last time before they move house! Very sad times. But will hopefully see some friends while there as well. Then Paris the weekend after which'll be a great break before getting started on my GTP!! Woooo!!

it's about time!!

Again, an age since I updated.


Since the last, rather frustrated, blog, things at work and home have got increasingly more frustrating. Pay rise revoked "until we know what your plans are" - SERIOUSLY??? Rather than basing it upon what I've achieved for the school in the past year, and possibly lure me to stay, it's been cancelled. Yet another straw for the struggling camel's back.

I passed my GTP tests and interview stage, and had a successful interview/ meeting at a potential school which is now no longer potential, so I'm really looking forward to handing in my notice, and getting started on my primary teacher training in September. I spent a little time looking around the school, and reading a story to a group of kids, and had a strong sense that it was definitely the right thing to do.

Looking forward immensely to moving out of this flat. It's been fine, but housemate increasingly slovenly and I've reached the end of my tether. There's nothing more depressing than a stinky kitchen cluttered with days-old dishes with crusty food inside them. 2 weeks and I'll be out.

August is set to be a very exciting month not only because of finishing my current job and getting ready to start my new challenge. Someone very close to me will be returning to the UK and starting a new job just up the road in Filton! I am absolutely over the moon and never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined things working out so perfectly. I just can't wait, the next two months had better fly by!!

So that's all my exciting news for now. Cornwall holiday was great, really relaxing although the weather wasn't up to much, I'm dying to get away somewhere hot, but it's not looking likely before October. Might take a few days in August to go somewhere.. I'll have to see.

Peace out, yo.

oooops late update!!!

Look at that!! Time flies!!

To be honest, I've not had a lot to blog about.. Apart from an amazing holiday on the West Coast of Scotland in March, and going to a wonderful wedding in Glasgow, it's been pretty much business as usual. Promises of a pay rise have still not materialised so scraping by, still managing to socialise but increasingly convinced that working 50 hours a week, give or take, for minimum wage despite my qualifications, is not the way to go!!

I've decided to go for my primary teaching qualification, probably a GTP for which I'm applying as we speak, very exciting. Employed by a school and no training fees sounds like the best bet to me. I'm keeping all my extremities crossed!

Off on holiday again at the end of the month, down to Cornwall. Hope the weather will be as good as it has been the last week!!! Woooo!

Generally all is well, I'm just getting a bit fed up of living like a student in more ways than one.