Education

The Primary School Teacher II

I got up at seven o'clock. I dressed (today we were dressing in Victorian costume), had a wash and fed my two tabby cats, Bart Simpson and Harvey. At eight o'clock I woke my son up before leaving the house to travel by car to work. It was my turn for yard duty so I went into the yard for the ten minutes before the bell goes to bring the children into line to come into school. It was quite a sight to see how many of them had entered into the spirit of the day and dressed in Victorian costume.

I did registration with my Year 4 class before they went to assembly. Following assembly I had Year 4 for Language (they are doing a diary as are Year 3) before playtime. At ten thirty the children all went out to play, I was on yard duty so I was out too. After playtime at ten forty-five I took Year 3 for Language until dinner at 12.

For dinner I had a cheese sandwich and a banana whilst I did some photocopying and worked on the computer. I collected the children from the yard at 1pm when playtime finished at which time I then took Year 4 for Art. Today they were doing work on decoupage on a photograph frame -- they have worked on the prints and they were going to add them to the frame before varnishing with pva and water.

At 2.15 it was playtime, with me on duty, it was a lovely sunny day with only a light nippy breeze. The children were able to go up onto the field to play as well as making use of the yard. They looked very unusual with so many dressed in their Victorian clothes -- they are different children!

At 2.30 it was time to go back to class for Year 3 art which lasted until hometime. The children were looking at warm and cold colours and applying this to the sort of clothes worn in the Victorian period. We discussed the sorts of colours that would have been available at this time in history. Girls were colouring a Victorian cut out and dress doll and the boys were dressing a man and an urchin.

At 3.15 the bus bell went and then at 3.25 it was home time for the children. Following the children leaving and the staff being photographed in their Victorian attire I returned to class to mark the work in language from Year 3 today. After doing some photocopying for tomorrow I left taking Year 4 language books with me to mark at home.

On my way home I called on my mother-in-law with a wicker crib and bedding for my sister-in-law who is expecting her second child in November. I went on to the Post Office and Somerfield for some shopping. I called in my other place of work at Careers Wales Powys where I work for Learndirect , a careers and courses helpline, before returning home. My youngest son was just leaving with his friend, they were off on their trials bicycles.

Illustration by Rob Davies

I fed the cats and then I was invited out for a walk in the Elan Valley which I accepted. I was amazed at how low the water was in the dam when I parked in the car park adjacent to the Nant Gwyllt church. The buttresses at the bottom of the dam bridge were plainly visible for about two feet above the level of the water. The trees were starting to turn and leaves were dropping. The sunset was very red and it was a most pleasant walk in the peace and tranquillity of the Elan Valley.

I returned home and marked some language books after emailing my father (in Newtown, who is also keeping a diary) and daughter (doing a Bsc in Architectural Design and Technology in Wrexham). I watched television, the news, and chatted with my son about his day. I also spoke by mobile with my other son who is doing an Msc in Analytical Chemistry in Plymouth. I went to bed at 12 midnight.



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