Last Week I Learnt That…#35

• Magpies are noisier than bees. You’ll remember my story about the bee who wanted to be a proper part of the family and come in to see us? Well, we now have a magpie who seems to have similar ideas. He has hopped along the window ledge for the past couple of mornings. We have closed the window just in case he decides to make an entrance. Bees we can remove – a magpie is something completely different!

• Presenting can be fun. As a headteacher, I was used to standing in front of an audience hopefully engaging their interest. Now that I’m retired I was wondering if I still ‘had it’! I was invited to speak at PELeCON which is an annual event where academics from all over meet for 3 days to discuss education with special focus on e-learning. My bit was on Day 1 when things had not really kicked off but I was pleased that the audience in the lecture theatre was a reasonable size. Here is ME talking about 100WC!

• Chain restaurants are a good invention. We love eating out. We love a variety of food and have lots of restaurants on our ‘we must go back there’ list. Normally, we will look for something local and risk it. When we were away this week we decided to plump for a chain. We didn’t know the city well, it had been a long day and my feet ached. Good choice!

• Keeping the focus when all around are crumbling is hard. My governance work is going through a rough patch at the moment. Things are happening to the schools which are causing upset to many people. However, we are not able to change that so my approach is to embrace it and make the best of it. That can be difficult when others have not turned that page yet.

• Seeing a friend blossom is wonderful. This particular friend is an educational colleague. He has worked really hard to move his school forward from a very low base. They are now getting the credit they deserve and he is able to reflect on the excellent job he has done. Of course, I taught him everything he knows! (as if!)

• Buying a handbag is stressful. Now you gents among my readership need to read on! A handbag is an essential item for a woman. It can become the contact with the world she is moving in. Pack the wrong things into it and your day is ruined. If it is too big she can feel like a train porter. Too small and she has to resort to more bags. Getting THE right one is key. I’ve been looking since my birthday on January and have at last found one at a price my remaining birthday money would buy. I’m a happy bunny at last!

A busy time for this lady! How was your week?