stevejp

No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition...

A major part of my childhood - what sad news. (And I'd forgotten that Barron Knights track - a classic!)

Aaahhh - at last!

Think membership of Edugeek should come with a proviso that the younger generation should promise to obtain a working knowledge of Monty Python within 6 months of joining!

Oh dear.... Well, what I was actually hoping was that there were enough Monty Python fans on here that someone would recognise the beginning of a quote from 'Life of Brian' The next person was supposed to reply, "No, I'm Mike", then the next in the sequence should have been, "No, I'm Mike and so's my wife." Don't you just hate having to explain a joke...? :getmecoat:

Ready, Python fans? Cueing in 3, 2, 1.... Go "I'm Mike"

I really wish I could reply with confidence and positivity. However, I'll be totally honest as I see it, and will leave it to others to judge as to whether I'm being overly pessimistic and cynical! You may be right - we may be near to breaking point, and things may improve. However, until recruitment is in crisis, then I don't think anyone will act. The problem, though, is retention -and because government is of necessity a short term thing, then as long as they can put bums on seats, in terms of idealistic young things fresh from uni, then the problem will not be acknowledged. And when those same bright young things have burned out and left after two or three years, there will be more coming along to replace them - and, as far as ministers are concerned, it will all be someone else's fault/problem by then, anyway. Another issue of course, is technology. As far as non- teachers go, what could be simpler than having a lesson recorded, uploaded to YouTube and then its's delivery to 40-50 students supervised by a TA/CS? The 'race to the bottom' as far as pay and conditions is concerned is well under way, now that schools and academies can set their own pay scales, and non or under qualified teachers (or those trained in-house, whose qualification is only acknowledged in one school, or group of schools) are increasingly accepted as a suitable alternative to qualified and experienced staff. Please note; I am not being 'precious' about this, nor derogatory in any way to the darn good natural teachers out there without a letter to their name - but without any central checks and balances, how can we possibly ensure that quality and consistency are maintained? Here's hoping I'm wrong - and good luck in whatever you decide to do.

OK, this is from a teacher - primary and independent school, so not exactly the same, but still... Please think very carefully before you give up what you are doing now and go into teaching. We all (OK, most) went into the job to make a difference - but the way that the job has changed, and certainly the way things are now, you are more likely to be frustrated at having to things that you know are actually against the best interest of the kids, rather than feel good about making a difference. Yes, it can still happen (and, I'll admit, there's very little that compares to the feeling when it does happen) but not often, these days. Can you cope with 60+ hour weeks (possibly more in your PGCE and NQT years), the majority of those hours spent doing pointless tasks which have no bearing on the kid's education? Can you cope with the loss of any kind of autonomy, professional judgment or just 'gut feeling' when some spotty fast-tracked 25 year-old deputy head comes back from their latest course and announces that their latest idea is now the way everyone has to teach - until they come back from their next course? Or when the head (not a maths teacher, and never has been) proudly tells you about the mega-expensive scheme or resource that they've just been conned into buying by the latest snake-oil salesman? I'm sorry - yes, I know I'm cynical, worn down as I have been by 30 years of constant change in the state system. I was very fortunate to get out when I did with both sanity and career intact (by the skin of my teeth, in both cases). For the first 15 years of my career I loved my job, as I do again now, and even 7 years ago I would have encouraged anyone with a vocation to teach with all of my heart. But now? I would urge anyone to think, think again, and yet again before considering it. At the very least, I would suggest some long and honest conversations with as many members of your maths department who you can find, along with some serious job shadowing - warts and all. The good heads, who really put the kids first, are disappearing, and are being replaced by the new breed who can't tell the difference between education and qualification - not the best place to be, if you really care about the children! Just my two-pen north - and apologies in advance if I've upset anyone! PS - sorry, was so busy getting that off my chest, I forgot to say many congrats on getting the degree - awesome achievement whilst working at the same time!

The, at the age of 14/15, it didn't really matter to us whether she could sing or not...

Wow .... Just... Wow! Instantly recognisable, for those of us of a certain age, although a slightly darker guitar sound than I remember. I 'may' (cough) have had a bit of a 'thing' for Debbie Harry in the early eighties - along with virtually every other teenage boy on the planet, I suspect! 'Sunday Girl' was my favourite... Have now entered 5th May on my calendar to remind me to spend some money on iTunes...

...and surely any decent bookshop, chain or not, is better than no bookshop at all?

+1 for Wenger - I use one every day for school - total 2 miles of walking with a bus journey in between. Very practical, smart for work, lightweight and comfortable. Have had it for over a year now, and is still in fantastic condition.

Well.... After today, think it's going to be a close call - can't see there being any grand slam this year, unless England play a heck of a lot better than they did today! Not sure Scotland can sustain that for four more matches - but isn't it good to see them play like that again!

Can thoroughly recommend a you tube search for 'Canadian brass' - Charles Daellenbach uses a rotary valve tuba. If you can find their version of the pachelbel Canon, there's even a guest appearance of a certain mr Herbie Flowers - ex bass guitar/tuba player from 'Sky'. Ever heard Bach's toccata and fugue in D minor played by a brass quintet? Hear ye, oh organist, and weep! There's some damn fine horn playing, as well...

Good grief - Vincent Bachs are expensive now! I always used a Wick 4 AL on Euph, but swapped to a Bach 2G when I started to get a lot of bass trombone work - it made the bass trombone work easier, but didn't have any noticeable effect when i went back to Euph. Ashamed to say that when tuba was needed, I just went with whatever happened to be rolling around in the case of the instrument I borrowed...

@witch is the rotary valve expert, but yes, I'm pretty certain that you need a specific type of oil for rotaries. One of our music teachers is a horn specialist ('they're taking over, I tell you!) so I'll try to mention it to her in the morning. What type of mouthpiece do you use?

Nooooooooo! Rotary valveists are taking over the musicians section of edugeek! It's a conspiracy!!

One of our kids at school has a plastic trombone - plays and sounds bloody awful! Will have to try out the euphonium and tuba at some point, just for the experience!

When my step daughter bought her first car, we were initially just going to put her as main driver, and my wife as a named driver. However, we then found that it was cheaper to put me on as a named driver as well - I never actually drive her car, but putting me on as well as her mum brought the premium down quite a lot. Might be worth investigating?

Congrats, and good luck - you were the first person to welcome me (albeit in your own unique way...) when I joined edugeek, and it has been frustrating to have read about your trouble in finding work - well done, sir!

Good luck!

.... And we also know how to spell piano, as well! (sorry , couldn't resist - the percussion section are so often the butt of the jokes, it's nice to be on the other side, for once!)

So that's where I've been going wrong all these years!

Daily - in order of importance: 1. Switch on coffee machine 2. Switch on PC and log on 3. Pour coffee 4. Log on to edugeek 5. Drink coffee 6. Check email 7. Check supply of hobnobs 8. errmm...?

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