Thursday, February 04, 2010

Right again!

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The A-list audience resplendent in staggeringly cut gowns and elegantly modish dinner jackets are hushed. The world famous film star has pic...
Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Here we go again!

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How well schools work when they are depleted of students! I once had this remark made to me in a slightly different form when I was in Unive...
Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Lord Have Mercy! †

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To some the novels of historical romance written by William Harrison Ainsworth are of passing interest only; at most a literary curiosity – ...
Monday, February 01, 2010

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To say that I was sluggish in my preparations to wing the desolate abyss twixt my home and the school would be something of an understatemen...
Sunday, January 31, 2010

Weekends are too short

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Sometimes the brain gives you a little present and yesterday I was the grateful recipient of its gift. Saturday felt like a Sunday. I theref...
Saturday, January 30, 2010

The seasons change eventually

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With the flimsy protection of a sheet of glass the early afternoon sun is streaming warmly into the room. The dappled sunlight is just on th...
Friday, January 29, 2010

How to ruin a perfectly good Friday

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The Iberian peoples are a tactile lot. And that extends to the pupils I teach too. Accepting for a moment that they actually qualify as peop...
Thursday, January 28, 2010

The wheel is an idea waiting to happen. Again.

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In a school whose raison d’être is glorification and deification of the examination today was marked by something which can only be regarded...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Life can surely offer more?

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In a more than usually flamboyant back flip wrist gesture I managed to take out a chunk of my chin while shaving. This, of course, is one o...
Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The merging days

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Monday was not a good day for me. I have a succession of difficult classes which drain all reserves of energy that have been built up over t...
Sunday, January 24, 2010

"The Heart of Darkness" & "Hatteras"

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Old habits die hard. And a literary puzzle still has the power to concentrate my thoughts. Reading through some short stories by AEW Mason (...
Saturday, January 23, 2010

Real life?

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Coincidence, in spite of its almost boring regularity, always catches us out. How many times do we find ourselves saying in a depreciatory s...
Friday, January 22, 2010

Weary work and bountiful books

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The mock examinations are barely finished (some still unmarked) and we are well into our next series of examinations. These are ones that we...
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

There is always something better to do

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In one of the most extreme examples of displacement activity in recent months I have just cleaned the bathroom; put clothes on hangers and p...
Monday, January 18, 2010

Rainy ruminations

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On this cold, wet, dismal day I have to admit that making an effort and coming to school was not in my Top 50 Things To Do. In fact it wasn’...
Sunday, January 17, 2010

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I am sure (but do not believe) that some people get real transcendental pleasure out of listening to rap music. Leaving aside the perhaps th...
Saturday, January 16, 2010

Voyage of Discovery

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No sooner had my passenger (a confirmed pedestrian) said, “You are sometimes lucky in this area” than I knew that we were doomed to that par...
Thursday, January 14, 2010

Tick! Cross!

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The head of English in our school was in full ‘Command Mode’ this morning to mark the beginning of examination hysteria. What was happening ...
Wednesday, January 13, 2010

It's here, it's there, it's . . .

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A bad case of “Centre Point Syndrome” hit me today almost immediately after school this afternoon. The name of this particular syndrome is t...