“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”
Meister Eckhart
Thank you for that, Spidey!
Apt for me this weekend, as tomorrow the new school year officially starts.
Yes, I have been back in school for the last two days of last week as staff training (and we had a brilliant training session involving Ian Gilbert of Independent Thinking and Rhythmical Mike, a poetry and spoken word artist, who came to talk about his beginnings and rough start to school life – there is so much to think of, I can’t tell you now, it would need another post), but it was finishing preparations for the new year, and tomorrow the children start, making it the real beginning of the year.
Of course, being in Reception makes things a little different for us. Our children don’t start straight away. They are the littlies, 4-5 year-olds who have never been to school before, so we can’t chuck them in at the deep end. There will be many pupils in my class that I already know, as they will have come up from my old nursery class. But there are ar least 12 new children in each of the two classes who haven’t attended our nursery. So, for the first 2 days, we will be doing home visits, going to see the child and family in their homes, and giving them a quick introduction to us and school, in a setting familiar to the child.
Then they start on Wednesday, for half days. We will build up to full time by the third week of term, which is actually quite fast, in comparison to the last few years.
There will be plenty of settling in time, and we have to assess, or baseline the children, so we know their capabilities at the start.
And this is all new for me.
A new set of beginnings. A whole ream of firsts.
- My first own class
- My first own classroom
- My first year where what I do, is chosen, and driven by me more
- My first year where the progress of a whole class is on my shoulders entirely
And I have a group of children who are going to tax me, going to try me, possibly will give me headaches and cause tears of frustration, but I also know that my intention is to make sure they are also the source of smiles for me too, and happiness, and tears of joy, as I see them progressing in the year.
What I am saying is there are some children with very specific needs within the class, which will add a whole different dynamic to my days.
Am I ready for the challenge?
Of course I am!
Am I nervous?
You’re damn right I am!
Will I pull this year off?
Who knows, but what I do know is that I will give it my all to try and give these children the best start to their academic life!
And every day is a new start. There will be ups and downs, but I always keep in my head the fact that the next day is another chance to try again.
So… tell me, do you consider each can a new start?
But I Smile Anyway... 