My first lesson and a weekend visitor from Germany

Hello there,

I'm now into my second week at the Primary School in Manchester. It's been great. I actually feel very settled and I'll be sad to leave tomorrow! It's hard to leave in the midst of half-term. I want to see what the kids will catch in their insect traps, know how tall their bean plants will grow and see how their WW2 day goes. They're having an Eid party next week and will all be bringing in food and I'm very sad that I won't be there to see it (and taste a few dishes!).

Today was particularly good. I taught my first every lesson - fancy that! Like a real teacher and everything. Well, sort of... I had the last lesson of the day, an hour long, in which to get 24 boys and girls to think about the lives of world war two evacuees, and write an imaginary evacuee letter home. It went really well. We had some great discussions about words they could use, and what life was like in the country compared to the city. The children then went on to write some great letters! Best of all they were all enthusiastic, if a little chatty and excited by the end of the class. Let say it didn't put me off at all!

For a seasoned teacher, this lesson would just be one of several in a day, nothing special, but for me it feels like a real achievement. I faffed and worried about my plan and my resources. I had a very thoroughly drawn out lesson structure, and thought I might be complicating things so much that I'd get lost in it. I was also feeling nervous about what it would be like standing at the front of the room, with 27 pairs of eyes (there was a teacher, a classroom assistant and another PGCE student in the room too) staring right at me.

I reassured myself, however, that I would have the whole of the previous lesson to set up, because the students would be in the hall doing PE. So after lunch I waiting for my opportunity to print off my plan and get myself well prepared, with all my resources ready before 2:30. However, the clock hour hand reached 2 and the students still hadn't left. They were running so behind, the teacher decided to skip PE. So suddenly my cushion disappeared. I had 5 minutes to get everything ready and read over my plan quickly. So not as calm as I was hoping! But as I said, it all went well in the end, and I'm feeling much more confident for the start of my course next week.

Steffi, me and Chris at Bramall Hall near Manchester

In other news, last weekend, we had our first real visitor! Steffi, a German au pair who I met while working in Paris who is now a student, was visiting London for a week with friends. At the end of her visit she came to stay with us for 3 nights. It was really fun to have a chance to do a bit of tourism together. We went to the Town Hall, the Cathedral, the John Ryland's Library (which is very beautiful) and on Sunday we went to a Tudor house called Bramhall Hall. We learned a lot about Manchester, and talked about the differences in our cultures. I feel I learnt almost as much about Germany as she learned about England. We also treated Steffi to a whirlwind of English cuisine, including sausage and mash, cornish pasties and egg custards, a meal on the Curry Mile, pork pies and Dairy Milk, and finally a Sunday roast with chicken, roast potatoes, vegetables and homemade gravy and bread sauce. A real treat for all of us!

Me humiliating a chicken, dressing it with butter and herbs ready for roasting

We also had two of my cousins Bernie and George over for dinner last week, making boeuf bourguignonne. Bernie is a chef so we were a little concerned about how he'd react to our food but he seemed to like it, and even brought over a brilliant raspberry and white chocolate bread and butter pudding with homemade butterscotch sauce. Yum.

All this talking about food is making me really hungry! Luckily I'm sitting in front of a cake which I have baked for Chris because it's his birthday today. Shhh, don't tell him though! He doesn't know anything about it. Hopefully he's cycling home now though, so he won't have a chance to find out about it by reading my blog! If he doesn't get home soon I'm going to have to eat it myself anyway... Unfortunately it is one of the ugliest cakes I've every baked, otherwise I'd have included a photo.

Anyway, I hope you're all well. Please leave me a comment to let me know how September is treating you! xx

Back to School

Today I spent the day with a year 6 class in a primary school in Moss Side, Manchester, where I will be helping out and observing for the next two weeks. I can happily and wholehearted refute recent irresponsible comments made by the Shadow Home Secretary. These 11 year olds showed no evidence of being involved in urban warfare. There were no bullet wounds, and not even a hint of a Baltimore accent. They were bright and enthusiastic kids who could probably do without thoughtless politicians labelling them and their home environment by comparing Moss Side to The Wire.

Anyway! Primary school seems to have got a lot more sophisticated since I was there. I got to witness a "Shake Up, Wake Up" assembly, when a dance troop of pupils performed to a song called "Show your national colours". It was really upbeat and the rest of the school got to join in at the end. Next came an hour of numeracy, a break, then 95 minutes of SFA (Success For All - today, conflict resolution and emotional vocabulary. It felt a bit like group therapy...). Lunch followed, then a brief spell of handwriting, which involved an programme on the smartboard that included videos of people leading hand warm up exercises! Next came science, when the students had to plan an experiment, including how to make it a fair test! Did we even discuss the concept of a fair test at primary school?? Finally there was circle time, which involved a couple of rounds of wink-murder, with some very dramatic death performances.

Generally it was all very enjoyable, although it was a bit awkward at lunchtime in the staffroom. No one seemed at all curious about who I was or what I was doing there, and although I tried to start conversations with them about the school, or their class, no one really seemed to want to chat. Hopefully this will improve with time. If not, I'm going to start bringing a book...

Will keep you posted on whether I have to resort to that or not!

What happened to August?

It's been a short age since I last wrote a post. August seems to have passed me by completely. Only now do I feel settled enough to actually try and get this key-tapping business back on track.

I think I haven't written recently because I've seen so many people in the last month. I didn't really need to use my blog to keep in touch. Since my last post I have:

- Been to Carlisle three times (For birthdays and visiting my new niece!!)
- Been to Pembrokeshire for a big family party
- Been to Peterborough twice (For packing, School friends reunion at the Beer Fest and another big Family party, this time a surprise which I helped to organise)

I have also moved house, which has entailed all sorts of things like BT engineers up telegraph poles, washing machine deliveries and a whole lot of box-filling, box-carrying and then, inevitably, box-emptying. It was all worth it though because for the first time since June I am not living out of a suitcase. It's stupid to be attached to lifeless things, and the two months without them has been refreshing, but at the same time I am oddly comforted by being reunited with my books, my hole punch and my potato masher, among other items. I like having these things here, under my roof, rather than worrying about whether mice have got into my boxes at Mum's house and chewed their way through my new Samuel Beckett book...

The new flat is GREAT! Sharing space with just Chris is supremely superior to sharing it with him and his housemates. Somehow, having responsibility for everything between the two of us is much easier than the casual arrangement at the previous place. If there is a problem, we have no choice but to deal with it, but we don't have to dither and check with others and wait for someone else to get round to something.

Chris is in Rome this week so I have spent the past 5 days in the flat by myself. Although it's been quiet, I think it's been useful. It's the first time I've arrived in Manchester and he hasn't been around to meet me. The experience has made me realise that this is my home now. I'm not just visiting any more. I have got a little bored though. Starved of human company I have watched two series of The It Crowd and most of the first series of The Mighty Boosh. Things are looking up today though, because I have arranged to meet some friends for lunch.

Friends? What friends? you might ask. Well, my move up north has been made considerably easier by Chris' friends from Uni and more accurately their wives and girlfriends. I've been lunching with the physics WAGs throughout August. I've never been one to go in for girly groups. The idea of meeting up with people whose only common trait is their partners' occupation is a bit abhorrent to me - like we're just an extension of the Manchester University Theoretical physics department - but I've been pleasantly surprised. Our lunches have little to do with the blokes and much more to do with our mutual appreciation of cake and craic.

Next week, phase one of my teaching course starts in earnest. I'm starting at a Primary school for two weeks of observation. I am a little concerned that it's going to be a fortnight of being covered in glue and glitter, incessant cries of "Miss, Miss! What are you doing here Miss?" and having to sit in mini sized chairs with my knees sticking up to my chin. I'll report back soon.