It's been noticeably cooler today (which is a plus for me ... love the cooler days) and quite a wind even at sensible low down places. However, in light of the fact the jaw pain is still unremitting, we went for a walk to try and blow the bad stuff away. I'd love to say it worked. Sadly it didn't but we still had a nice time. The ice cream at Barford Farm helped too (wonderful homemade ice-cream made right there from the Sturminster herd)
Knowing it was a bank holiday weekend we knew the coast was out, the forest was out and so we headed for a nice walk to Badbury Rings. Actually not so much of a walk as a battle against the wind. But it was lovely and clear and very refreshing.
Nigel says I will always be Mrs Leahy, as even on the top of the rings I heard a 'it's Mrs Leahy isn't it'. It was a family from a long time ago. They had three daughters come through the school and two of them - now very grown up and a lawyer and a surveyor- were with them. It was lovely to see them and brought a smile to my face. Nigel does say that wherever we go we see past pupils and it is kind of true. I was also thrilled to get a facebook message from a father regarding his daughter who I supported through grammar school entry. He wrote because he wanted me to know she had received 6 grade 9 and 5 grade 8 GCSEs and wished to thank me. How kind was that. I have always said that teachers change the world one child at a time.
However, I don't miss going back. This time of year would have been a time of worry as the school year started to resume and, for my friends and family who are teachers, this new school year holds even more worries as the COVID restrictions make a job even more difficult. And teachers across the country are going to be facing unprecedented differentiation issues. The gap between the wealthy and the deprived is going to be more evident than ever. Some children - such as those at my old school - will have had every lesson delivered according to timetable on their own school provided iPads. In addition, many will, in all likelihood, have had wonderful enrichment activities provided by their parents and whilst they did all go back for the last two weeks of the summer term, they will be looking forward to a new year. But even there the differentiation will be harder than usual. Then there will be the countless children who were sent the bare minimum and did the bare minimum. And sadly, those who had no access to on line work, those who lived their lockdown in homes where parents were so worried about their economic future they couldn't parent their children well, those who spent lockdown in poverty where the worry about the next meal was far worse than the worry about another worksheet and those who spent lockdown in abusive homes where their only sanctuary, school, had been denied them. There will be children, and staff, fearful about what the new year holds in terms of work, socialisation, strategy and health worries. There will be those whose mental health has been severely affected and those who have a devil may care attitude who don't realise what 2020 has done to them and may not for years. There will be teachers facing some of the hardest teaching they have had to do in their careers as they try to manage the different abilites that are far more extreme than ever, manage the worries and fears of those in their care, alongside their own, and try valiantly to prepare our children for a world that is so very different and is likely to stay different, than the world they faced in January. I don't envy the teachers but - teachers are wonderful. They will put their own fears aside and care for those in their classrooms, they will work the extra hours that noone appreciates to ensure every single child gets the best possible education for them that they can possibly have. They will cope with socially distanced classrooms, with endless bubbles and new restrictions because that is what teachers do. They cope. They care. They educate and they change the world, one child at a time.
I have another photo to share that I didn't share on Wednesday as I felt to awful to be honest. We went to Weymouth for work, thinking it would be nice to have a wander and then have a meal. Wrong. The world and his wife were in Weymouth and they were NOT social distancing. We did have a meal - unsuccessfully eaten by one of us. But we did see Weymouth had even more cruise ships that Bournemouth - there were 5 in the bay including the Queen Elizabetha and the Queen Mary (it is a stitched photo to show them all)
I haven't done any scrapping today as I simply haven't felt like it but I can share the three pages from the class I taught this month at A Trip Down Memory Lane.
This one was of Morden Walled Garden
Nigel taking the perfect photo at sculpture by the lake
and me happy with sunflowers.
Love my sunflowers. Nigel bought me sunflowers again this week.
Today I am thankful for
- a lovely e mail from my sister-in-law who is also suffering terribly with very similar problems in her mouth and jaw with root canal work (and she does go back to school next week)
- seeing past pupils and knowing that I might have played a part in who they are
- cool air
- painkillers - yes still grateful for them I am afraid
