What a week it has been. A short while ago I saw an advert for a Deputy Headship of a school in Canterbury. It was much closer to home and so I sent in a speculative application not expecting anything to come of it. A week later I received an invitation to interview. This came as a huge surprise. The selection process involved being observed teaching my class, then a 30 minute presentation and question session followed by an hour and ten minute interview.

It was a long day.

In teaching you tend to find out on the day if you are to be offered the position and so I waited quite late into the evening to hear the bad news. When the phone rang I listened to the pre-rejection speech from the headteacher...how they had a very strong field, it was a really tough decision etc etc and inwardly urged her to just to get on with it and tell me I hadn't got it. I was therefore stunned when she said they were offering it to me. I really could not believe it. I almost asked her if they had got the right person!

But there it was and after nine years I will be leaving St Peter's at Easter. It is a peculiar feeling. When I sent in my application, I really didn't expect to get it, so had not considered actually leaving. I have loved my time here and I will miss the children dearly.

My new school is closer to home and so closer to Ruby. It is a Deputy Head position and so a promotion also. It is in the heart of Canterbury and just a short walk from Monsoon!

It is odd that my mum and sister in law have also aquired new jobs this year. What a time for us Holbrook/Godsell women!

Posted by Kary at 6:42 PM | Permalink

The house is quiet as I try to do some work related research this afternoon. As I read, my eyes wander to the sleeping bundle visible in the adjoining window. She is curled into a tiny ball; a blanket pulled around her and is sleeping soundly. Her tiny back rises and falls fractionally with each breath and occasional snuffly baby noises can be heard through the monitor.

Her first birthday was a wonderful time. Thank you to everyone who visited over that weekend, we were overwhelmed by everyone's kindness. Ruby herself seemed to revel in the attention and loved having a house full of friends and family. Nick and I had a great time making her duck birthday cake after the cake mould we ordered failed to arrive. We were very proud when she looked at it, pointed and exclaimed 'duck!' We will have a lot to live up to next year... let's hope that she does not develop a love of something more complicated before her next birthday!

I have been watching her toddling around the house all day and I am starting to accept that she is now a 'toddler' not a 'baby' anymore. She took her first tentative steps just a week before her birthday and here she is not four weeks later, dashing around, almost running at times. She is confident and brave and again, I find myself watching on in admiration. She toddles across the room, bends down and picks things up, then heads on her way again, smiling or laughing as she goes. She is always so very busy. It is no wonder she sleeps so soundly.

Her favourite pastime is emptying or rearranging containers full of toys at the moment. She studies the contents hard, her little brow furrowing in concentration and she removes some or all of the contents, before she looks again and decides whether it is now as it should be. Sometimes more are removed; sometimes pieces are swapped or added before she finally gives a small nod of her head and a smile and moves on to her next challenge. If the bricks are all in her walker, then at least one must be removed and placed on the floor. The shape sorter must be at least one brick light and the bookshelf must be mostly empty. It is a very exact science and incorrect arrangements are not tolerated! I would love to know what her system is. Why is the moose ok in the bucket some days and the penguin not?

She is stirring and so I had better be there to give her warm awakening cuddles. I had better wake her daddy up too. Peace and quiet never lasts long in this house... but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Posted by Kary at 9:36 PM | Permalink