And breathe…
In the words of Tom Petty, “Time to move, time to get going, what lies ahead I have no way of knowing…”
And so there it is, a simple five-line letter posted through the door. It’s been a blast but time is marching and I’ve lots of other stuff to do. I’ve never retired before so it was a nervous thing but once done felt absolutely right. This teaching lark can be excoriating and it certainly screws up your sleep. The mountains of paperwork and deadlines, the crises of children and their wider families, the absolute unblinking callousness of management and sometimes the sheer drudgery, I could go on. There is also the delight of seeing the faces of students that suddenly ‘get it’, the joy of witnessing a performance so nuanced and affecting, the magic of watching young minds wrestle with ethical dilemmas and make the right choices. So much to reflect on either way but the time has come to do something else – you will be fully appraised of projects in the coming weeks. And now I’m just going to take a breath. July will come soon enough but my God there’s lots to do before then.
Some appropriate numbers this week; a touch of Tom from the quote above, a beautiful lyrical thing from Paul Weller and finally some Green on Red to wash away any hint of self-indulgence.
