And it’s Friday again!
My favourite times of the day are first thing in the morning greeting the children as they arrive and then saying goodbye at the end. The new procedures have changed our pace and the slowing down has enabled me to connect on a new level with our children. I am still woefully poor at remembering their names, but thoroughly enjoy the few seconds I actually have as a one on one interaction. Saying goodbye has always been a source of joy to me, just being able to watch the interaction between child, adult and siblings. There is something just so special about seeing the joy mirrored on both sets of faces when seeing each other at the end of the day. Every time I speak to my parents they are thrilled to hear from me and it reminds me that, despite being a grown-up, I am still to them their little girl and always will be. My dad turned 80 last weekend. Not a family for big celebrations, there was never a party planned, however the low-key family meal was postponed due to the lockdown restrictions, as have the summer celebrations when I was due to join them. Apparently, my brother and I both selected the same Moonpig card – something about fire extinguishers and candles for the birthday cake. We have ‘that sort of relationship’; I rarely call him dad, preferring ‘aged parent’ or simply ‘aged one’ and have done ever since reading Great Expectations as a child. I have attached something which my sister and I shared as ‘so true’ about our dad. Ever the absent-minded professor, my dad lives in his own world, whereas my mom is seemingly able to read my mind from a simple ‘hello’ and always has been. I am incredibly grateful that I have this relationship with my parents, but whatever our interactions look or sound like, we all have people who are important to us and now, possibly more than ever, have to make sure we are nurturing them.
I have often wondered when the greeting ‘Hi, how are you?’ changed from actually meaning ‘How are you?’ to just the words we say when we greet others. One of the positives I am definitely taking from this is a reversion to the ‘old days’ of actually meaning what we say, becoming much more of a ‘How are you?’ and, seemingly for once, pausing to hear the answer. As teachers, leaders, educators and generally people who are role models to our students, there is a fine line to be drawn between showing our humanity and fallibility and showing strength and resilience in the face of some really tough situations. I find myself once again looking to our students, at times in awe, and often as a source of inspiration. As a general rule they wear their hearts on their sleeves; the very first Friday back in school when I was covering 5K and their delight at seeing each other again, 5R’s excitement last week at getting to see Olivia for the first time in ages (apparently she has been at school in Denmark and not able to join in the Friday catch-up), Carolina’s planning for how to connect Y6 for their graduation event, the palpable joy of our EYFS children for being back in school and with their friends. It is simply heart-warming, and it reminds me that we are a strong and tight-knit community even across the miles.
To add to Francesca’s doughnuts, there is something for the bakers. I don’t miss a lot of things from ‘home’ but I do like a good old jammie dodger. I’ll make some when I get round to buying biscuit cutters!
Happy Friday everyone, have a lovely weekend.
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