But I Smile Anyway…

Today, at work, we bid a fond farewell to one of our long-standing members of staff, Mrs G.

I feel a huge mixture of emotions.

I feel a huge wave of sadness. She is an amazing teacher, she has inspired so many children over the years here. My own Lil Man was in her class a few years ago, and she encouraged him, despite some issues he had, and with her help and guidance to him as a pupil and to me as a parent, he has flourished. Lil Princess was distraught that she wouldn’t be in her class, she so wanted to be in Mrs G’s class. I know people in their twenties who remember her being their teacher and they only have good words to say about her.

I feel immense anger. Anger at the government, and the Education Sector, who have piled so much pressure onto teachers, taking teaching time away, because of all the paperwork, and red tape, introducing so many changes, changing goalposts so much that your training is almost defunct before you even get to use your qualification. We had a great system here. The UK had fantastic education, then things became target driven. Weren’t children learning before? They were. There were less illiterate children leaving school, because you worked at their pace more. There was a little more individuality in teaching, because you didn’t have a thousand things you HAD to cover before the year was up. Anger because , with all this excess pressure, amazing teachers are finding it too much, the work/life balance is almost nil. If you know a teacher, you know their life consists of early school starts, late finishes, then home to more planning, or marking. If they are lucky they finish by 9pm, but if they have children too, they need to squeeze parent time in before they can continue working… Often burning the candle at both ends. And your partner/friends? Sometimes they don’t get a look in… TSB – Teacher Stress and Burnout, it’s a recognised condition nowadays.

But I also feel happiness – I’m happy that my lovely Mrs G will get her life back! She’s going down the route of many other inspirational teachers I know, taking her life into her own hands, she’ll supply, so there will still be many children whose lives she will colour in a positive light. And be able to enjoy life with her other half and gorgeous pets.

And mostly, I feel blessed. Blessed to have known her. This won’t be the end of our friendship by any means, but in a professional context it’s adieu. She has been an encouragement to me, inspirational, supportive, and I admire and love her dearly.

Here’s a little something I penned for you…

Ode to Mrs G

Time to go now Mrs G
Your last bell here has rung.
Last marking, homework, PPA
Last song in assembly sung.

I know I’ll miss seeing you here
With your head buried in the books,
Or us bursting into random songs
And getting lots of looks.

We’ll all miss you, kids and staff
Here at our little school.
When you’re gone, we will have lost
A most amazing jewel.

But you will get your life back,
Time to relax, and enjoy, finally
On holidays with Mr G
And snuggles with Maisie and Billy!

Enjoy your time with a glass of ale
You’ve got that planned I’m sure!
And if you get bored, we’d welcome you back…
(that’s if you want some more!)