The Head or the Heart

It is amazing to think that I have been back at school for a week and a day and things are really progressing with the organisation of the 'New Group'. Although there seemed to be a couple of issues at our first planning meeting on the first day back, these were soon resolved basically because the Head really stepped into his Power and affirmed what he wanted. There then came the question of when the Group was going to start. I was very keen to start it on Friday January 19th for a variety of practical reasons, but also because it was the closest to a New Moon which I felt would be the ideal time for this new venture. The other members of staff were a little worried as they felt that this would not give enough time for planning etc and the last thing we wanted was for the scheme to fail because we had overlooked things. However, yet again the Head came in here and said that although he agreed with what the others were saying he would go with whatever I wanted!! I have never been in this position before of a Head giving control to me.

During the evening whilst away from the hustle and bustle of school, I had time to really think about the whole process from both a physical and Spiritual perspective. I really felt that I had to make a choice between my Heart and my Head. My Heart was definitely saying 'Go for it on the 19th ' but when I looked at some of the other practical issues ie I am the speaker at a Healing conference on February 3rd, it is the last Drama assessment piece on the 6th of February and then I am out of school the day after, it did seem to make sense to postpone the start till Friday February 9th. When I went into school the next day, I have to admit the Head looked somewhat relieved when I told him this. I also felt though, that he had had the experience here of getting what he really wanted eventually, but in a different way which meant that everyone was happy with the result.

The next 'hurdle to jump' was the presentation of these ideas to the whole staff at an after school meeting on Monday January 8th. It was interesting to note that under my original contract, I should not have been in school for this, as I have not worked on a Monday for five years. However, the lady I job share with had previously asked me if I would swap a day with her, as she wanted a longer Christmas holiday. Again, this to me was evidence of the 'behind the scenes' working that goes on in order to get us in the right place at the right time.

The Head of Year Seven had prepared a brilliant Power Point presentation for the staff, which was a wonderful combination of all the right educational phrases and the reality of teaching in a classroom situation. If anyone would like to read this then do email me or respond to the blog online and I will send it to you.

At the end of the presentation there was a stunned silence and then people began to react in a variety of ways. Immediately the fear of change came to the surface for many of the staff for although they know that the system as it stands at the moment is not working they are still wanting to resist change. The issue of Power and Empire building was the next issue to rise. You may not be aware of it but there are always people in a school situation who have their own agenda of where they want their career to go and they will 'shoot down' anyone who gets in their way. I guess this is the same in all workplaces. So the last thing this sort of person wanted to see or hear was that someone else in the school was coming up with what is probably the most revolutionary idea our school has ever known. The final straw was to see that not only had they not thought of it but the one person they would have least expected ie me was the one who would be mostly involved. To a lot of people at school, I am a bit of an oddity because I do all this 'funny stuff' as they call it at the weekends!

There was then a lot of concern over how much time it was going to take to organise all this and many felt that we should not even contemplate it till next September!! And I was thinking it was bad enough delaying it till February! I also thought that these staff have no idea of the planning and organisational skills I can tap into once I am determined to succeed with something.

Yet again though the Head took control of the situation as he gave the staff five minutes only to voice all these worries and then he said that after that any concerns had to be put in writing and emailed to himself and the staff concerned. It was also interesting to note that the Head of Design who was going to have to reorganise a lot of groups as a result of this and in fact probably do the most work apart from myself, had a totally different response to the situation. She very calmly asked me a couple of questions and then she went home that night and just set to doing all the re-organising that was required instead of 'wasting all her energy in a negative way'. A couple of other things had happened over the weekend which I feel I should mention at this point. Although there is some money available in the school to set all this up, I had also spent time over the weekend trying to research the possibility of funding from other sources too. I then thought about the lady who is in charge of the 14-19 Vocational curriculum and I wondered if she could help out here as she was very good at knowing where to look for money. No sooner had I thought this than I was out shopping in Bude last Saturday and I happened to see her. I briefly explained what was happening and I asked her if she had any ideas. However, being mindful that this was a Saturday, I said I would speak to her in school on the Monday. By the time Monday morning came not only had she thought of a way to get money, she had contacted the necessary source and been given the AOK. This will mean that for one of the lessons during the week the students on the Health and Social Care course will work with the group on more self- esteem ideas. Not only will this benefit the pupils but it is also now a part of their qualification, something that the lady had been wanting to do for a while but had not seen how this was going to work in with the normal school curriculum.

The other thing that happened over the weekend was that I had decisions to make as to what stock and equipment to buy for the new group. I spent quite a while visualising the furnished room before making my final choice. I completed the order form and handed it to the admin staff on Monday morning, wondering when this would all arrive as it can take ages to get things delivered. This may be the technological age but we are talking about rural Devon here!! In case you have forgotten, I live in Cornwall but teach in Devon.

Having done a slight re-cap, I shall now return to things at school on Tuesday ie the aftermath of the staff meeting. As you might imagine, nobody said anything to me about their concerns, but according to the Teaching Assistants whom as you might imagine are very much behind the new scheme, there were staff in huddles throughout the school all complaining and moaning! This did not bother me and I have tried to stay very balanced throughout and just stay focussed on the positive aspects. Obviously this is easier to do away from the school environment and I have a clear impression of how things will work. My mind does seem to be in a constant whiz at the moment as I systematically work through each of the challenges as they crop up. I have been waking up at 3am each day and it is like I am being plugged into the Matrix as I call it because I am getting the solution to lots of the problems at that time. As a result things are just being ticked off my list of things to do with incredible speed. I have had to resort to carrying around a notebook at all times so that I can write down things as they come up in order to keep my mind clear especially during the day when I have been teaching and after school when I am rehearsing the exam groups.

On Tuesday evening I was able to re-connect with a teaching friend I used to work with 30 years ago and we had a lovely conversation together. Although we had kept in touch through emails, we had not spoken for years. However as she also works with children I felt it was time to see if she could help me in any way too and in fact she gave me some good tips and ideas. Likewise I was able to offer her some ideas too. To me this was just another example of how I like to see things in that we are all pieces in a jigsaw puzzle and we all need to fit in together to make up the whole.

I was not in school on Wednesday as my job share did the day for me as I had done her Monday. Again I managed to complete lots of the planning tasks for the new scheme.

On my return to school on Thursday, I was amazed to see that almost all of the stock that had only been ordered on the Monday was there waiting for me!!! Even the Admin staff could not believe how quickly this had all gone through the system. I soon realised though that the next thing on my list of things to do ie start to move things about and set up the room was now urgently needed. In theory this was going to be more complicated than it sounded as I had to move things from one room into another and the whole process was a little like moving pieces on a Draughts board. Not to forget as well the slight issue of having a class sitting in front of me waiting to be taught!

At this point, the door opened and a Year 11 boy entered. He has been a bit of a problem within the school and has been on the verge of being expelled several times. He does GCSE Drama with me and I do not have a problem with him. As a result of his behaviour he had been thrown off one of the other courses so he had come to ask me if there was anything he could do! They do say that Angels come in all shapes and sizes and this one luckily was quite muscular. So after a quick briefing, he set too moving things out of one cupboard and into another and moving around the heavy furniture. All this of course whilst I taught the class around him. By the end of the lesson the furniture was in the right place and there were piles of things on the floor waiting for me to sort. I was then lucky to have an Admin period later on, this is when we do planning for lessons, and I set too sorting out the things on the floor. I kept looking at my watch as I had another lesson after this and it really was like time stood still. I got everything done and by the end of the day the new room is really beginning to take shape.

This takes me to Friday and I am now beginning to realise I have only a few more left before the new timetable starts. I spent a lovely morning having coffee with a friend, but then did more planning which I have emailed to all the parties concerned, ready for their return to school on Monday. I am sure there will be other hurdles to jump next week but as I look back on this last week I am very grateful and I know I have received a lot of 'behind the scenes help'.

If you are still awake after reading all of this, I thank you, but at the moment it would appear that I will only be able to do the writing at the weekend, hence the length.