Not really sure if I am supposed to put the new bit of the blog at the top or at the bottom? What a dilemma! If I give answers to questions asked earlier in the day then blog watchers will see the answer before they scroll down to read the question. Spooky! Is that time travel?
I had a great day today. For many reasons. Mainly down to great feedback about this blog. How long I can keep this going, I'm not sure. Best two moments of the day: first, on seeing a congested staircase with children going up and down on both sides, I pronounced in headmasterly manner "everyone go up on the right and come down on the right" one child looked at me quizzickly and said "but that won't work, sir!", clearly not grasping the concept of left and right changing depending on which way you face! Second, and best, was as I left a lesson and headed back to my blogging station and on my way a Year 5 pupil said "I like your blog, sir!" How cool is that?
Monday 5pm
As promised I can now reveal the derivation of the saying "going to pot" which, I hasten to add, was not used in the same sentence or indeed breath as the words "Has anyone noticed that the Headmaster is...........?" Nor is the expression anything to do with recreational drugs, nursery gardens or billiards. The derivation of the saying is a reference back to the 16th century when, in days before refrigeration, meat, which was usually air dried, salted or smoked, became too hard to eat and therefore inedible, was chopped up into small pieces and stewed in a cooking pot. Therefore meat which had passed its best would be described as having "gone to the pot"
Monday 12pm
Well, thankfully all the children are safely gathered in this morning. The car park was a bit of skating rink but all got in eventually. And now it is raining, the snow is melting, although there are still huge amounts of it here, and the tales of snowman building are being exchanged in excited tones.
I do realize that for some families the school closures last week were a major inconvenience but I really had no choice. Making a decision to close opens me up to all manner of accusation but with hindsight I feel that I made the right call each time and would do nothing differently given the same situation again. Well, maybe I would not have told you about my new coffee machine as the queue at my front door this morning was ridiculous! I could have made a fortune! And maybe I should have done a Latin lesson as well.
The snow caused major disruption, yes, but you and your children will have experienced something which might be talked of for years to come. I can't really remember the winter of 1962/3 (honest!) but that year the snow fell and remained on the ground for weeks on end due to a period of sustained freezing temperatures. Maybe we will not see snow again, such as we had last week, for a generation? Maybe your children have had the time of their young lives? What fun!
Thank you for all your emails of support; they really are appreciated. This can be quite a lonely job at times (it certainly was on Friday!) so feedback is always welcome, especially when it is so positive!
Translation made easy!
Just as I was beginning to believe that CPS had the most multi-lingual parental body in the world, someone has owned up to using a website that translates on demand! What subterfuge! What gall! What cunning!
I have had emails in French, Hungarian, German, Russian, and some in reasonably good English!
I have also had a few parents shaking their heads (that's one head each by the way) as they walked past me this morning, drawing in their breath as they mutter about marbles going astray, screws coming loose, plots being misplaced and things going to pot. Things going to pot? What a strange expression! I bet you do not know the derivation! There's a challenge! Answer coming shortly. (Gosh this is fun but not really in my job description....yet!)