It’s that time again. The bit of my blog where I attempt to cheer people up, make them smile a bit, brighten their day or whatever else this series might be capable of. Usually, I reckon it’s only around a dozen people, but this monthly piece still does the same thing for me – makes me smile and reminds of just how much good is going on around me, in amongst all of the absolute rubbish in the world. So what was doing the trick in the last month?
Reaching the end of summer term. I love my job for any number of reasons. From working with vulnerable kids to standing at the front of my classroom and frankly, showing off. One day I might help someone crack a problem they’ve been having with reading or writing and on another I might just be glad to see them leave my room! The best thing about my job though, if I’m being brutally honest, has to be the summers. Every year, without fail, we get to just beyond the halfway point of July and I get to take the next 6 weeks off. I cannot stress enough how absolutely sensational it is to wake up every morning during that time knowing that I don’t need to go to work. So, no matter how hard a year I’ve had – and I’ve always worked in somewhat challenging schools – I know that there will come a time when, whatever is on my mind, work is not even in the picture!
Detectorists overwhelmed. This was the story of the metal detectorist Peter Hughes who spent the last 21 years gradually discovering more and more ‘treasure’ from a shipwreck on Margam beach in Wales. The coins date back to 1583 and the wreck of a ship returning from Spain with payment for grain that had gone the other way. Peter had visited the beach over 1000 times over the last two decades, regularly finding nothing at all. However, in that time he’s also unearthed well over 800 gold and silver coins from the wreck, as well as several other ship related items. The treasure haul has now gone on display at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. As good as it is, the story also made me think of the BBC show, The Detectorists, with Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones, about a pair of long suffering metal detectorists who always seem to just miss out on the kind of big find described above. It’s a brilliant, heart-warming and understated show that we’ve only recently discovered and it never fails to make me laugh.
Retirement plans. The end of another academic year puts me another year closer to a relatively early retirement. I’m slowly realising that I’ve not got many more years in me as far as work is concerned, so we’re making tentative plans. At most, I’ve got three more years in me, but I might just do two, depending on how my pension’s looking. Either way, thinking about it always makes me smile!
Mod escort to Prom! If you don’t know, Mod is a British subculture born in the 1960s – and still alive and well today – focusing on particular styles of music and fashion from that era. They’re also into scooters, particularly Lambretta and Vespa. Last month I read a story of a Mod obsessed schoolboy from York who was given a scooter escort to his prom. Having attended a fair few proms in my teaching career I’ve seen students arrive in everything from limos to horse drawn carriages and military vehicles to helicopters. I’ve never seen a scooter escort though and so, coupled with my own interest in Mod culture, this one really made me smile. 15-year-old Travis from York, who is autistic, had been obsessed by Mod culture all his life learning lots of stuff from his grandparents. And although he wasn’t keen to go to Prom at first, his love of a sharp suit and his mum organising a scooter escort for him, persuaded him to go. The fact that the escort consisted of more than 100 scooters was just a fantastic turn out. Just a brilliant story!
The sun! Summer will generally bring out the sun at times, but in England you’re still more likely to get more than your fair share of rain. But, July brought with it another heatwave, meaning that our school sports day had to be done over two consecutive mornings – more time idling in the sun for me! Furthermore, for the bit of July that was spent at home I was able to fill loads of my time in the garden, just relaxing. More than enough reason to smile!
And with that, I’ll bid you adieu! But I’ll be back next month with hopefully a load more instances of turning that frown upside down!
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