It really IS rocket science!

Our rocket building day with the pre-prep on monday was so much fun!

We gave them a little talk about rockets, and where in the solar system we have visited and then we began the build. Year 1 made simple cone/cup rockets and year 2 had some rather more complex kits to build. I ended up helping the year 2s, explaining what to do and helping them with the fiddly bits. Once the kids went for their lunch break, HoD and I had just over an hour to fit the engines to all 40 rockets and get them ready to fire and then we headed to the field to launch.

Rockets on the launch pads

Some of the kids were quite nervous about the prospect of loud noises and explosives, but most seemed quite excited. and the launching went really well!

Tell you what though, those little people can be hard work! They never stop talking! By the end of the day I was utterly shattered.
We had a lovely email yesterday from one of the pre-prep teachers saying how much all the children had enjoyed themselves and how enthusiatic they were about rockets.
Makes it all worthwhile!

Kaboom!

Don't you just love it when a package like this arrives?

We're building and launching model rockets with the pre-prep in just over a week and the kits arrived to day from the wonderful Model Rocket Shop. We've done this before and it's always a load of fun. The kids get so excited by it!

Can't wait!

PDR done

I had my suspicions that doing my PDR might bring me to the verge of tears, but I thought that would be due to frustration or anger. I never dreamed it would be as a result of people being nice to me!

I filled in the self review parts of the form, being as honest as I could about what I see as my strengths and weaknesses and then turned it over to my HoD and the Head of Science for their comments. When i got it back for signing I could not believe how much praise they lavished on me.
HoD described me as 'one of the best' and 'incredibly supportive' and Head of Science said I am 'exemplary in all areas of work' and 'proactive in improving the department'.

I knew that my HoD values what I do, but it is so nice to hear it from elsewhere and it is a massive boost to my confidence to find that people think I'm doing a good job. :)

PDR

The last time I had a Performance and Development Review was 8 years ago - not at this school, or even at my last school, but at the first school I worked in - so frankly it's about time for another!

I was informed today that PDR for support staff is going to be happening some time during the next month, and the Head of Science has sent us a copy of the form that we'll have to fill out. I don't exactly find PDR a lot of fun, but I do believe that if done properly it can be a worthwhile exercise. My heart sank then when I looked at the form. The very first 'Area of Work' on which we are to be reviewed is headed 'Customer Focus'.
I do hope someone will tell me who exactly the 'customer' in this scenario is meant to be! Is it the teacher who orders the practical equipment from me? Or is it the students who benefit from carrying out the practical activities? Or is it the parents who pay to send their kids here? And how am I supposed to be focussed on the customer? I do my job to the best of my ability at all times. What more do they want?

Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be another pointless box ticking exercise and that this form was just borrowed from somewhere else without considering whether it's actually relevant to the types of jobs done by the employees concerned?

It's my birthday.

Woo! Or not really, because I'm at work today.
When I'm Emperor of the Universe no one will have to work on their birthdays. Sadly I'm not Emperor yet though, so here we are.

About 5 minutes into period one my HoD came dashing into the prep room with a slightly panicked look on his face. 'Teacher X has a problem, can you come and help?', he said, so I dutifully followed him into lab 3 at which point the whole year 9 physics class began to sing 'Happy Birthday' and the teachers gave me a card and flowers.

I was horribly embarrassed and probably went a delightful shade of beetroot, but it's really sweet that they remembered me.