Six Weeks Later
It's the start of the summer holidays - a moment of celebration for pupils and teachers, not so great for parents of younger children or those we leave behind in school, working their civvie socks off (unhindered by mithering colleagues) to prepare for the coming academic year. Alas, the sense of celebration was lost this year, for several reasons, a significant one being that the local bus company were only able to provide our usual school bus service and thus there was no customary early finish, which resulted in hours of shaving foam fun for some, terror for others and exhausting military-style vigils for the rest. The good-byes for those leaving our number were vague and begrudged and we left the pub early to return to our normal Friday night activities. So all in all, it just doesn't feel like the summer holidays. More importantly, we have reached the end of an era: you might note the absence of fireworks, damped as they were by professional obligations that served onl...