Tuesday

My legs have just stopped aching after my marathon world record on Sunday. There’s life in the old girl yet.

We are continuing our assembly theme this week which is Relationships and how we can be a good friend. The children have such a good understanding of how they can be a good friend but also understand that actually, we might have disagreements with each other, and the important thing is how we handle the disagreements. It is the same for adults isn’t it. After a long day at work I am sure that like me you have to be honest and say that your patience has run out a bit. I really want to be as understanding as I am at school but my tank is sometimes empty. Just like it was after crossing the finishing line on Sunday. I need space and time to off load everything that has happened during the day and to be honest not have to think about anything at all.

As a parent that isn’t always easy. When Eleanor was a wee lass I used to leave school at 5 to pick her up from the child minders, we went home and had turkey twizzle for tea with a few veg, then walked the dog, played for a bit, did her homework, bath, story and finally bed. THEN I would start my school preparation for the next day. There was no such thing as PPA (Planning, Preparation and Assessment time) and everything had to be done by hand. I have vivid memories of handwriting phonic cards and covering them in sticky back plastic whilst watching Vera or Midsomer Murders. Making worksheets by hand because there weren’t that many resources to download from the world wide web. Those were the days. It was so important that I put Eleanor first though and consequently we have an amazing relationship and most importantly, we know when to leave each other alone.

I only had one little person so even though I was used to having 30 little people in my class, I didn’t have to share myself out at home. How on earth Mr and Mrs Walton from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia (or was that Laurel and Hardy?) managed but they seemed to. I was lucky enough to be a younger sister for a long time so I didn’t need to set an example, but I am sure it was hard for our Pamela. She set the examples and I wore her cast off clothes. It doesn’t matter though where you are in the pecking order everyone needs a bit of one on one time don’t they.

Our Year 2 children are so grown up now and you will be pleased to hear are setting a wonderful example for the younger children but we don’t forget that they are only 6 and 7. The world is a funny old place and it always will be. They are about to be little fish in big ponds again and will have lots of new relationships to navigate. Hopefully all the work we do at Tavistock to make sure we Achieve Happily Together will set them in good stead to face new challenges. Life can be tough but it is also absolutely fabulous and we are very lucky indeed.