Back to the Salt Mines

Before I begin: tonight's parting shot before bed.

BA: I don't like this moisturiser...it's kind of gluggy.
Me: It's gel based...I think it's for people my age....to kind of tighten your skin up.
BA: Mum, your days of tightening the skin up are OVER!

Cheeky minx.
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Life has been incredibly full-on in the last week or so. Some of you may be wondering how things are going now that we are back at school? If you weren't wondering you can skip this post cos I'm about to tell you :-D

To tell the truth I have been dreading the return to work. What with the recent frustrations at home, the downer of my sister leaving, the depressing drought which renders the garden (previously an inspiration and a joy) a baked claypan full of crisping shrubs and thriving weeds and a general dullness of eye and flabbiness of belly, I have not felt much enamoured of the thought of spending my days in constant combat with recalcitrant 14 and 15 year olds.

Added to this is the fact that only one of my classes is the same as last year so it is once more a case of making it up as I go along. This year I have Support Maths in Years 8, 9 and 1o as well as a Year 10 History and an odd single lesson in Year 10 Geography to help someone else out. I have also taken over the mantle of Special Education Co-ordinator which, to be honest, has not taxed me overly as yet due to the fact that the previous co-ordinator is still in the school!!

Nevertheless, I was really starting to work myself up over the return to work. I kept 'meaning' to do some preparation. I kept 'meaning' to sort my resources. I kept 'meaning' to read the curriculum. I kept procrastinating. Blogging is an exceptionally effective method of procrastination in case you haven't figured that one out for yourself. Every time I planned to 'get started' I would blog away until my chest was tight with guilt and thus I effectively wasted the last weeks of the holidays.

Relentlessly, the day of recommencement approached. Fortunately, as I had told myself, the very act of getting back into routine helped my stress levels enormously. That and the Blackmore's Executive B Stress Formula!! In the first week we had two staff meetings followed by a long weekend. Not much achieved then. In the second week the kids came back and we had two days of teaching followed by a swimming carnival. This week we are back into it in earnest.

A couple of things have happened in the first few weeks. Firstly my classes have been generally settled and non-aggressive, except of course for my very best 'girlfriend' in Y9 (now) who flounced in the door and announced "Can I be in Mr H's class?".......no, and a happy new year to you too Kylie (all names have been changed to protect the aggressors...sorry I mean the innocent). The whole school just seems generally more settled although I am knocking furiously on wood and carting large branches around with me just in case. I suspect the difference lies in the number of new teachers at the school. Last year we filled the stage. This year there were a mere 4! A stable school is a happy school.

The other thing was the swimming carnival.

Now I must preface this with the story of our school 'houses'. As in Harry Potter there are four houses in our school, which, for anonymity purposes we shall call Compass Point N, S, E and W. (those actually ARE the names of the houses believe it or not....it was meant to be temporary but 25 years later they persist!!). When I started at the school last year I elected to be in Compass Point E (CPE) as it was the green team and corresponded to the house I had been in at my previous school. Co-incidentally, CPE and my previous house shared a somewhat similar lack-lustre morale evidenced by a Tshirt at the previous school which read "C**** House: run like your granny, swim like a brick."

Now, CPE has come last in the swimming carnival for at least 4 years. Lack of swimming talent aside, the main problem has been lack of participation. If anyone swims they get a point for the team...regardless of their position. Despite this, last year CPE regularly fielded two empty lanes in the pool. At the end of last year house meetings were held on just about the last day as I recall and, being somewhat fatigued by the exertions of the last weeks of school, I think I nodded off during the meeting. When I awoke, I discovered I was Head of House. Apparently I had nodded at the appropriate moment.

All jokes aside, I sleepily volunteered for the job as no one else wanted it and then promptly wondered if I had dreamed it!!! It left my mind rapidly and did not re-enter my field of consciousness until the first day back this year when I suddenly had a hideous recollection and found myself gasping, 'What the H*** was I THINKING????????'

As House Head I was left with the job, on the first day back, of motivating the kids to get involved in the swimming carnival. We offered a bribe of an 'Ice Cream Sundae Lunch' to anyone who participated and watched as they stayed away in droves. Things did not auger well for the carnival.

On the day I said to my House Seniors, "Let's get as many kids in the pool as possible and see if we can NOT come last this year." This proved more difficult than we had anticipated. We bribed with chocolate frogs. We reminded them of the Ice Cream Sundaes. We begged and pleaded. In the first few races the gun went off to two empty lanes at our end. Then something happened. I'm not sure what it was but all my jumping up and down and cheering and hollering started to pay off.

Kids who had swum in U13s and emerged happily, last, but to a crowd of shrieking CPE House Seniors patting them on the back and saying 'You finished...that's a point for us!!!!!', suddenly volunteered to fill gaps in U14, 15 and sometimes even 16s!!! Shamed by this enthusiasm, our one good swimmer, who hadn't wanted to be associated with the losing team, entered a few races and WON!! This produced a landslide of entries. At one point we were the only house swimming in a freestyle heat!!!! We cheered those two kids the whole 50m down the pool and even though they had no hope in HELL of getting into the finals, we clapped them on the back and hugged them as if they were Olympic Gold Medalists. Someone rather snippily commented 'Two swimmers from one team in a heat....what's that about?' and I, I have to admit it, crowed joyously that it was about points!!

We didn't win the day, but we didn't come last either! We had achieved our goal and the House Seniors couldn't have been more excited. Tomorrow we have our Ice Cream Sundae lunch and I'm printing out certificates for people who went above and beyond the call of duty, like the year 8 boy who swum for us in the teacher's race!!!!!! (we came last...one point still!!)

So that has been the start of the school year. Pretty good really. We have been managing to get up at 6am and be out of the house by 7.05am so that the BA can catch her school bus. She is happy to be back at school with her mates and Himself is chugging along pretty well with lots of new work and reasonable cash flow for a change (whew).

The only blot on this horizon has been No2 Son who still does not have a job or any imminent prospects. His problem is that he is afraid of rejection and so will not apply. He also does nothing around the place and generally irritates all and sundry with his surly, arrogant, negative manner. I am praying hard that someone finds a job for him as he is unlikely to do it for himself :-(

I didn't even manage a BSM this week as I haven't taken much in the way of pictures. This weekend though we're off camping to Port Vincent where the boys will be sailing. Hopefully I will be able to relax and take a few shots.

Meanwhile folks, forgive me if I am tardy in reading and responding as I really need to keep on top of work to prevent my family from divorcing me as I become a crabby, stress ridden harriden ;-D (oops...too late methinks).