Please, please, please forgive me...

... for not blogging for while. I have had the small matter of a WORLD CUP to watch, whilst trying to read several hundred reports, write the school improvement plan and rid Thea of this annoying mud habit she has developed (all over our new white walls, I almost wept). Still here I am, just in time for Glastonbury, Wimbledon and ENGLAND VS GERMANY.

So, what have I learned recently.

Readership of this humble blog is wide ranging.
Report reading and football watching, surprisingly, do go together.
That in Afghanistan, 3 cups of tea is a very important milestone.
That year 6, when they put their mind to it, really can write.
So can Year 1.
Reception's results are amazing.
That some people are very interested in the number of swimming costumes to take on camp.
That shouting at people on the telly does not necessarily enhance the performance of people over 6,000 miles away at the time, even at my volume.

And what has the world cup taught us do you think? How about

That surprises and shock results still make us smile.
That someone showing absolute passion and enjoyment for the game can overcome the hatred of years of resentment.
That a good goal, whoever scores it and what ever its aftermath, is a good goal, and worth watching several times.
That a man in tears due to how proud he is to wear his country's colours is a deeply humbling moment.
That an act of kindness and sportsman (or sportswoman) ship will always win over even the meanest hearted critic.

Keep watching. COME ON ENGLAND.

That is all.

Get well soon Mr V.

These are a few of my favourite things

Greetings,

Term 5 has been long, difficult, sunny and very, very productive.

I thought I would wish you all a very happy holiday with a new take on an old song.

Burgers and hot dogs all sizzling and flipping,

Jugglers covorting, and tall men a-skipping,

Welsh drummers thrashing the shine off their skins

These are a few of my favourite things.

Iphones and music and Thea and my Rube

Tall men a-skipping appearing on you tube

Thatchers and Westons and Apple-y stings

These are a few of my favourite things.

When year 6 swear, or they chew gum,

Or they answer back,

I simply remember my favourite things, and then I don't feel, so bad.

Amazing what you can come up with after a KFC.

Have a great hols. Stay safe.

That is all.

Chopin versus Jam-and-Spoon

It may sound like a purist's nightmare, but those were the two tracks I downloaded last night, after being reminded of the former by an old stash of cassettes (cassettes - I loved em, especially that squeally noise on rewind in your walkman) and of the latter by seeing a middle aged man in an inappropriate hat. And, no Bailie, I was not looking in the mirror.

Les Sylphides, the Chopin selection I "legally borrowed" from t'internet, has a lot to say about our current journey. To begin with, it sounds a bit chaotic. In the second movement, it begins to form an order - a slightly dishevelled, tie-askance kind of order but shape and form none the less. Then, the turbulence, questions are asked, notions are challenged, but from it all, the order returns, stronger and more harmonious than before. Then, at its climax, once things are correct, in place, as they should be, with an unshakeable foundation of clarity, all players move in syncopated motion and deliver somthing simple, sublime, unremarkable, yet magnificent.

I like that I do.

As for Jam and Spoon, that is nothing at all like our current journey. It reminds me of being a spotty, blonde (yes, blonde, and not chemically blonde) teenager who used to take the newspaper to nightclubs to read during all the grunge stuff. Not exactly romantic, but, oh, the stories I could tell...

30 years on, by the way, you are remembered Ian Curtis. RI exceptionally calm P. I hope your troubled soul found some rest.

So, what have I learned this week.

- Sorry, but I will not tolerate those low standards of work.
- I am less sorry, but will still not tolerate appalling behaviour;
- To people just like that shy little girl in my office this evening, I meant what I said, and I will do everything to keep my promise;
- To parents like the one in my office this evening, ditto, and tell me if I don't;
- Year 6, your work is awesome;
- Maths paper B was vile. Utterly, utterly vile;
- Miss PW couldn't do maths paper B;
- Jess P can wither you with a look... or is that Jess Withers...?
- Shelby can do the bull dog like the best of em... so can Kane... so can Chantelle...
- Year 1 are amazing at poetry.

So to end it all, two announcements.

1. James MIlner is worth more than £20 million.

2. Someone called Mrs Dibble is back next week.

That is all.

(Psst, by the way John, it's Dean Friedman.)

I haven't heard the Blow Monkeys in years...

... but, thanks to the Big Hits of the 80s, I have been reliving my teenage years like you wouldn't believe. Kylie, Bros, and, dare I say it, Brother Beyond. Even I had hair and teeth then.

So, having finally found exactly the correct tie combination for my new candy stripe shirt, and my prediction about the Lib Dems not doing anything bearing financial fruit, I look forward to another weekend of Just dance on the Wii, and getting up too early to play In the Night Garden with Thea. And with it, a think about what we have learned this week.

We have learned:

- I don't like playing Mr Grumpy, but nor I am I prepared to tolerate low expectations;
- I will play Mr Grumpy if I think people's expectations are too low;
- Miss Walmsley doesn't like the word humongous;
- I am rubbish on the new whiteboards;
- My Maths group like Monster munch;
- So do I (not technically a new fact, but worth a remention);
- All Kane's are funny blokes;

Final weekend of the season. Up the Villa. That is all.

I could call you Betty...

Apart from one or two bits of Badocks craziness, we've had a really good first week, and, after a little sunshine, everyone looks amazing.

What have we learned this week?

• Year 1 know their lines, especially Beerbelly beerbelly;
• Mr Vaisey could be a body double for Tim Henman;
• Year 6 are calm, maybe too calm...
• Reception, a bunch of salty sea dogs, have ensured even pirates write to each other politely.

And, of course, everyone has been mesmerized by our new boards. Awesome.

Enjoy the sun everyone. That is all.