Friday

Well, another key point in the year is over and finished.

Do you find that your year is punctuated by key events?  I think that teachers, in particular, certainly do.
For us, the new year starts in September.  Not usually the 1st - we feel a bit diddled if we have to start on the 1st.
Then we plough our way through to the first set of consultation evenings either preceeded by or followed by the first 'levelling' (whatever that may be called in the future) of the school year.  Not long after that, half term shines a light.
Then there's the long slog to the sparkles of Christmas, the Infant Show, the panto, the carol service at our local church and the lovely 'Carols by Candlelight' on the last afternoon of the term.
Then the rest of the world catches up with us for their New Year!
After that there's the hope of Snowdays, the next lot of levelling, half term and the second pair of consultation evenings.
Then there's yesterday . . . the Infant Music Festival.

And wasn't it grand?  Five schools at a time, performing on several mornings or afternoons during the week.  One appropriate musical, this time 'The Litter Muncher' from those fanastic and creative people from Out Of The Ark. One brilliant pianist, one amazing conductor/director and loads and loads of excited, enthusiastic, motivated year 2 children.

I had a lovely morning.  As all the teachers were, I was immensely proud of 'our' children.  They shone, they sparkled, they were fantastic.  The show was so very good.

It's the first time I have been involved in the Infant Music Festival although I have more than done my share with the Junior Music Festival in the past when I was the music coordinator and led the school choir.   And now I appear to have been seconded onto the committee for next year's show.  As the song goes, 'I'm just a girl who can't say no!'

Today, of course, is the solar eclipse.  Another huge excitement and an excellent opportunity to talk about Not Looking Straight At The Sun and sundry other safety things.  It's going to be a very disrupted first half of the morning but it's the opportunity of their childhood as they will all be pretty grown up by the time the next one comes along.  We have the special glasses, we have the parental permissions, we have the interactive whiteboards to show how it is all going in between going out . . . and then they have to make a poster about not looking directly at the sun.

But will the weather cooperate?