School...

Well, today was the day - my first day at Severn School, the day I'd been waiting for. Setting the alarm for 5:45 am after a summer of no schedule was daunting, to say the least. Crawling out of bed in the dark after not really sleeping well (I never sleep well the night before my first day - must be a throw back to days gone by - remember those days?), I made my cup of tea while watching the rain just pouring down outside, more so than any other day here in Wales. I refused to read any hidden meanings into it! I'd made arrangements to pick up Bev, so directions in hand, I packed up my things, including the brownies I'd baked as an offering from the new person. Arriving, I faced my new school, an incredible stone building from the 1850's (at least I think that's what Chris, the caretaker, told me) in the midst of a major construction site. Mud, wires, the playground dug up - what a mess! We didn't even have electricity in the teacher's lounge...
We were early, but saw Julie, the head teacher, and Judith and Margaret, our two deputy heads, already there, attempting to deal with it all. The others dribbled in, with greetings and hugs all around. Everyone took the chaos in stride, welcoming me warmly. Tea money (7 pounds, fifty) was collected for the first half of the year, along with a deposit for the Christmas dinner - how organized, a dinner with drinks and disco dancing! Got to meet all of the people that Gil had told me so much about... I'm impressed.
The staff areas are really nice. There are not only refrigerators for our lunches, but mugs, tea, milk, dishes, etc. and even two dishwashers. Quite different from home! A lounge with comfortable chairs and coffee tables all over, clean, and bright.
So many people helped me get sorted out. Delores and Bea, along with Clare, all came into my room to get me started. It all felt quite familiar. Bulletin boards, cheerful red tables for the kids,
a rug, all of the usual accoutrement seen in a classroom, including my very own Smartboard!
I felt at home... I got to work, sorting through everything and generally familiarizing myself with my new classroom. Gil left things in really good shape thanks, Gil!
Knowing that once we had the kids there, we'd rarely have this opportunity, Bev, Amanda, Delores and I decided to go out to lunch at a local pub - non-drinking, of course! Chatted and ate our lunches (I'm going to have to be careful around those chips) and trudged back to school to continue creating my work home-away-from home.
By the time Bev and I left at around 4:30, I felt pretty good about how things looked. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to be teaching, a small detail... Amanda will be a great help as my grade level partner and has already spent time with me going over some of the curriculum. Tomorrow, we'll really start planning. I think that this will be a good year.
Now, I'm shattered, as my neighbor Louise says, and ready for bed.