The weekend comes at last!

My brain has slowly turned more into mush with each passing day this week. Back to full time teaching, each day brings more paperwork, more planning, more marking, more meetings, more assessing, more displays to put up, more resources to make and of course the growing knowledge that whatever I do with my little groups, it'll never be quite enough.

I take the very bottom ability groups for maths and english and it breaks my heart to be teaching these 11 year olds that are so far behind. To an extent they are given up on as they have had every intervention possible for four years and they still have made little measurable progress. I am a firm believer that measurable progress is not the be all and end all and, in fact, they have all increased in confidence and social skills a great deal. They have also been cared for and on occasion washed and had their head lice sorted out. BUT...The government doesn't consider these things when it conducts OFSTED inspections or publishes league tables or awards SATS levels and so my little gang, who won't be entered for the tests, are not priority.

But I haven't given up on them and I'm determined that they achieve success of some kind and so that is taking up lots of brain space at the moment. I almost dream about them.....which really isn't good!

This week 4 members of my family have told me not to get myself in a state about my job. They worry that I take it soooo seriously and take things too much to heart. It's true - I'm so determined to do a good job and feel that it's never good enough which stresses me out. I'm trying hard to take their advice and so I didn't bring work home with me (not much work anyway!).

This weekend I plan to......do some baking for Sunday teatime, draw in my visual journal, enjoy having my brother to stay, watch a childhood favourite film - The Court Jester starring Danny Kaye, go for a walk and breathe fresh air, sit by our woodburner and feel cosy.