Time to Draw Breath

Well, here I am again, at last. I realised that I've been so busy lately that not only have I not been keeping my own blog up-to-date, but I haven't even been checking out any of my favourites...

The new job is partly to blame - it doesn't matter how well you know your stuff, a new job always takes up more time and effort as you get to grips with the way things are done (invariably it is different from any other place you've ever worked in!) So by the time I have finished lesson planning and preparation, marking, chasing up absences, attending meetings and so on, I haven't got much time for anything else... And then, I actually have to add teaching to that lot!

This week has been particularly fraught: it started badly as I was away for a Residential Weekend at the Maryvale Institute, Birmingham. In my spare time I'm studying for a BA in Divinity, and the Residentials are part of the course requirement. It's probably not a good idea to start my studies again along with the new job, but I've started and stopped a few times now, as each year something seems to crop up. Last year it was breaking my ankle at the end of the summer holiday and then having a major car crash just before Christmas. So, working on the basis that something or other will always happen, I decided to take the bull by the horns and just get on with it...

The week then took a downward turn with the arrival of Section 48 Inspectors. This is the Catholic Church's version of OFSTED inspections. A bit like the Inquisition, only less friendly. Actually they weren't too bad. One of the Inspectors assured me that you have to do something really awful to fail. I had one lesson observed, and luckily for me my students didn't clam up and just sit there (this nightmare scenario did happen in one inspection I went through a while back: the class were pretty silent all the way through, instead of being their normal, boisterous selves. When challenged the next day they protested that they wanted to be "good" for me in front of the inspector!) Anyway, we passed. So now I can breathe again...

However, I notice that readership of my blog is right down: I am under strict orders to get my act together and post at least once a day - and when you get an instruction like that from a successful blogger like Fr Tim (of the Hermeneutic of Continuity), well, you just can't argue with that!