Adventures in Babysitting

Fantastic! Work seems to be coming my way, finally. Today I did some supply work in a nearby school which I shan't name, as it's at ground zero in the current South Wales e-coli shitstorm. It feels really, really good to get back into it- the longer I went without work, the more my self-confidence started slipping away and the less likely it was starting to look that I'd want to do it when the opportunity finally arose, but not to worry. It felt lovely being back in front of a class, and I've got more work tomorrow at the same school. After a conversation with my agency yesterday I've found that I was missing a certain form that I needed to fill out to register with the relevant body for Welsh teachers, that's now done and things are looking altogether more positive. It was fun teaching a few different subjects today- starting the day in a technology workshop (bandsaws, lathes and all) then relocating to an IT room then a physics lab was hilarious, especially during the times I'd quietly remind myself that I know fuck all about any of those subjects. Each teacher left lesson plans though, luckily, and the main challenge of the job was maintaining order in a roomful of children who've never clapped eyes on me before, let alone had a few beers and a reefer with me to see how decent I am. The first lesson this morning was a bit rough, a year-ten group on something called the "new start" programme (read: thick-as-fuck reprobates) who pretty much ripped me a new arse. The rest of the day was busy but pleasant enough, and most of the pupils got most of the work done, which is good enough for me (well, I got invited back so I can't have fucked up too badly, at least not yet). Funniest moment of the day? Pupil- "Had you' lip done 'ave you, Sir"? Me- "A while ago, yes". Pupil- "OHMYGOD Sir, you wasn't gothic, was you"? Kids, eh?! More soon.
Marko
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Hi, I'm Barry Scott....

And I'm here to tell you about Mark's Blog!
Hi all! It's been a long, eventful, stressful and (ultimately) cool few months since I last had the means to post. Let's sum-up what's been going on....
Well, first, there was the traumatic business of leaving Aberystwyth. After spending nearly a decade in the place I was really torn up having to finally kiss it goodbye. I knew it was necessary and unavoidable, but damn it really stung to look at my empty flat (formerly Harri's) with my life in boxes and bags. What made it even more difficult was the fact that I was moving back to Gwent, to the county I grew up in and, as a hot-headed youth, swore I'd never return to. Things felt weird to start with- the place hasn't changed a bit, I see old schoolfriends around the streets and it feels a little bit like some fucked-up timewarp where I've aged but no-one else has. I'm over the (lack of) culture shock now and I've settled back in, but it was very odd and quite upsetting for a while there. Laura's started her course, and is knee-deep in legalese every night, reading impenetrable law texts and memorising dense regulations and rules in preparation for her future in contract law- massive respect to her for driving back and forth Cardiff every day (just under an hour from here) and still having the stamina to read for hours each night.
Everything else has fallen into place piece by piece. I'm registered with two supply-teaching agencies, and start each morning sitting by the telephone waiting for work to come in. There's been nothing at all thus far, but as both the agencies and my brother have told me the first weeks of term are slow for supply teachers due to everyone being fresh after the holidays. My contacts at the agency have assured me that as term progresses work starts to come in regularly, and I've been told to prepare to be inundated as the weeks progress. Work can't come quick enough- I'm gagging to get back into a classroom, and the last thing I want is to have to get a non-educational job after the year I put into the PGCE. Having the sweet, sweet internet back is a boost- a big thanks to Wanadoo for pulling their e-thumbs out of their e-arseholes and switching this address on after a month of lies and diversionary tactics.
Some pics of the house- this was the scary emptiness that greeted us when we moved in, but when we got all our stuff in and built a bunch of furniture things started taking shape. I'll get some more pics of the finished place for a future update, but for now I'll nick off by saying it's nice to get back online and if you're reading still, you have my thanks.
Marko
PS: Odd little fact here- take a look at Barry Scott at the top of this post. Did you know that he doesn't exist? For reasons known only to the Cilit Bang corporation, "Barry Scott" is actually an actor called Neil Burgess, playing someone called Barry Scott. I mean, what the fuck? Why Barry Scott? Is the name supposed to mean something? It confuses the shit out of me why they'd invent a persona like that, then have him introduce himself by name as if we're supposed to know who he is.... I don't understand, and I'm certainly not buying Cilit Bang on the say-so of some weird-ass non-human Troy-McClure-style advertising crypto-personality. Anyway, laters.
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