So Is This How It Ends?

Finished work at LCHS yesterday. And, for the most part, it's an odd kind of feeling.

Disappointment in not being able to follow students through their entire academic year, but a relief that the end date has been reached. It's certainly been busy over the past few weeks, both at work and at home. Lots of marking and assessment to ensure no extra work is left for my colleagues who remain at the school. And we had a visit from Ofsted.

For those who don't know Ofsted (and until late last year I didn't know much about it), they are the inspectors who visit schools and classrooms to determine their teaching and administration standards. And, certainly within the teaching world, they have achieved a myth like status for being brutal. Teachers rip their own heads off rather than face them, administrators wail at the merest mention of them, and principals become blubbering, thumb-sucking wrecks from their visits.

Yes, it was terrifying, and for someone like me who is rather new to the system, stressful beyond belief. But somehow we survived their visit. All we have to do now is await their report, and they weren't giving any clues away. Anyway, I won't be around when it's delivered. For my colleagues' sake, I truly hope it is favourable.

Last night I had a few drinks with my colleagues. My friends, actually. The English department has been wonderfully supportive, and I know I'll miss you all. And to the others who are moving on from LCHS, I wish you nothing but the greatest successes.

Kicking Down Doors.

When I recently applied for a new job, someone told me that if I didn't get the job then it wasn't meant to be. I was successful in my application, and the job feels right for me. But there were many, many other applicants - probably quite a few who would have performed the role quite well. (Although I would like to think they wouldn't be doing it as well as I am.)

I've seen too many people not get the job they should have. I can recall many, many times when the wrong person was given the role and they screwed it up. Was that 'meant to be'? Surely if you don't get the job and it's 'meant to be', then getting the job must abide the same rule.

It's happened to me several times too.

And I usually end up hearing those pithy little sayings, such as 'If one door closes, another one opens.'  No, I don't see that at all. If one door closes, then it's up to you to open a door.

As a qualified careers advisor I've seen many students submit applications for jobs they were never going to get, but because they hadn't built an employment history, hadn't written an enticing application, or simply hadn't prepared. That had nothing to do with fate - only effort.

Many years ago I chased after a position. I prepared for the interview, did my research, practiced interviews and built an excellent case on why I should be employed. I was unsuccessful, and later I heard four different reasons why I didn't get the job. (I also heard I was the best interviewee, and that I was suited for the role, but they gave it to another person for ridiculous reasons). I decided not to wait for another door to open, and decided to kick that same door open.

It took me a year or so, and I was in while the other person, who had failed to perform, was out. Unfortunately, in the meantime, this person had done nothing, had destroyed rather than build, and debased the job to such an extent parts of the role had been farmed out to others and the position I inherited was a shadow of its former self - not only in duties, but in effectiveness.

My supervisor told me they should have originally given it to me, and apologised. I didn't stay long.

Don't be passive. Don't think things will happen around you. Make it happen. Write that story. Send it out. Pay attention to the rejections, but work on your craft and send out more.

Write. Submit. Repeat.

Strange Things Are Afoot At The Circle K.

Report writing and the subsequent intensive proof-reading is enough to drive any sane teacher mad. Having read hundreds of these things in the past week, and the typos made, I now question the sanity of some of my colleagues. And that includes the ones I considered normal.

The current format for reports includes more information and data than anyone really needs. But I suppose information overload is the way of the world.

Proofreading is almost done, as is the term, which means I'll have a little more free time in the coming weeks. Good things, along with the strange, are indeed afoot. And I have hopes that a couple of opportunities will come to fruition.  I have a good feeling about a couple of these things.

Maybe it's just my post-birthday optimistic outlook.  Or maybe, just maybe, things might come together for me.