Slow progress...

I've not been posting lately...suppose I've been waiting for something to happen on the job front. I wanted to be able to report something positive. I'm even getting on my own nerves with my constant moaning about the job situation. I've now applied to about 50 schools in the past year and still no luck. I've been invited to 6 interviews, two of which I had to decline because of clashes - teaching interviews are like buses, you don't see one for ages and then they all come together. I wasn't successful at the ones I went to and I'd rather not beat myself up over the ones I chose to decline. People ask me if I'm working and when I tell them my situation, they look at me with a combination of disbelief and pity. I feel like an utter failure. The worst thing is that I know...I just know I would be an asset at any school. I just don't know what it is that they are looking for. Seems my experience in raising two children of my own throughout compulsory education pales into insignificance when compared to two weeks doing Camp America. That shows REAL commitment to working with young people. But, to be fair, it isn't all my fault. One of the jobs I did apply for had 70 applicants for that one post. And that was only a 12 month contract. God alone knows what the permanent posts are attracting. One school had to extend the shortlisting period by 2 weeks in order to give every application fair consideration...good for them! Many of the letters tell the same story; 'unexpectedly high volume of applications' and 'strong field' were recurring themes in the letters from schools who bothered their backsides to communicate the bad news. So I know I am battling against the numbers game.

The baffling thing about this is that it would indicate a glut of unemployed primary teachers seeking a small number of jobs. A secondary school senior manager I know raised the important question, what on earth is the government doing training yet more primary teachers? There may well be a shortage in certain parts of the country, such as London, but why not concentrate the vast majority training places in the areas of shortage? If I don't get a post soon, I will have to consider leaving the profession before I've even got started. After December I won't be able to do daily supply as I have not completed the induction process and, frankly, I need the money. In the meantime, I will carry on going through the motions of job applications...

Holy Week 2009

And so the cycle continues...Holy Week already. As I write, it is almost done. It never ceases to amaze me how difficult it actually is to be reflective, even for such a short time. It seems that when we have time away from our work routines, we expand the 'things to do' to fill the available time. That said, it has, in its way been a worthwhile week.

Monday was a curious day. I received a phone call last week from a cousin to inform me of the death of his father. This was very sad to hear. I barely knew my uncle. This is, sadly, so often the case in large families. But I know he was a lovely person from the distant memories I have of both him and my auntie when they used to visit my parents. We also exchanged Christmas cards each year. I am always glad (if this is the right word in this context) to be available to attend funerals. So much of life is given up to work that, as a society, we seem to be loathe to give up any time to pay respects to a life well lived. A benefit of my current 'state of flux' is that I can afford myself the luxury of time when I need it. The funeral was taking place just a few minutes from where I live so I was able to attend. Though a sad occasion, there was part of me that was excited to meet my aforementioned cousin, with whom I had had limited contact through Facebook, the infamous social networking site. As much as I can see the disadvantages of Facebook, I must say I have enjoyed a number of very positive experiences through it. On this occasion, it certainly took away that awkwardness that you can feel when you connect with family you have never met before. To round the day off nicely, I managed to tip the scales a pound lighter than the previous week at the Slimming World class. 16.5lbs, so far (she adds, smugly).

Tuesday was a day in the city with my youngest. A coffee in Starbucks, a film (Marley and Me - not my choice but it was harmless entertainment) and a bit of shopping. This was also Phil's birthday so it was out in the evening to Dine India and chocolate cake back home. We were able to share the candle blowing ceremony with Kirsty in Spain via the wonders of Skype. We even cut a symbolic slice of cake for her which Lol ate on her behalf! Still trying to get the cake crumbs out of the keyboard!

Wednesday was a more relaxing day, but the highlight was a visit from my friend and former work colleague, Julie. It was lovely to have an opportunity to catch up as it is a rare treat these days.

Thursday, Lol and I met my brother, John, in Liverpool. The weather wasn't brilliant but we did manage to take a walk along the river front and we had a pub lunch. John's daughter, Margaret, was able to join us for that which was fun!

Good Friday means the traditional Walk of Witness. Numbers do seem to have dwindled this year but I don't think the weather helped. We always finish with a light buffet lunch at St Mike's and this year we had the benefit of the lovely new church hall. I love these occasions because it is good to catch up with so many lovely people. I also did the Good Friday service at my own church at 3pm. The best treat was a phone call from Phil in Guernsey with whom we share lovely memories of toasted hot cross buns on Good Friday.

Now that I look back over Holy Week, it has been all about people, taking time to talk and enjoy their company...which just reinforces the sense that the meaning of life is all about relationship.

Happy Easter, to you and your loved ones...when it gets here!

Good grief! Is it that long since my last post?

How very remiss of me! Well, no doubt, after the last one the big question is, "How is the healthy eating plan going?" Not bad...I've shed a stone now so hopefully things will continue to move in the same direction. I've had an interview for a summer term which didn't go my way, but it was good to know that the application was successful in getting me that far. Haven't really got much in the way of news so I thought I would post this little vid for your delectation. I haven't watched the whole programme, myself, but I've heard it is a bit hit and miss (as is often the case with sketch shows). But this one really made me chuckle...enjoy!

Drastic Action...

I am (a) 46 years old, (b) overweight and (c) out of a job. None of this is good, but I am limited in terms of what I can do to change this. The date of birth is fixed - I have to accept this. Applying for a teaching post is not like going on The Apprentice. Sir Alan Sugar may be quite happy to turn a blind eye to certain details on dynamic young things' CVs, but LEAs and CRBs will have no truck with even the smallest porkies. Even if your date of birth is not a requirement, it doesn't take an Einstein to figure out that if you list your O levels which were awarded by the JMB, you are not far short of baby boomer status. Actually, this is just as well as I have not yet met any Einsteins. As for the job applications process, I have had offers from a couple of people to read through my application. One is a primary school governor who has read lots of applications over the years and the other a secondary school headteacher. I may take them up on the offer and suffer the ritual humiliation which will be bound to follow. I also got a phone call from a guy at the college where I did my PGCE, firstly to congratulate me on graduating, secondly to ask me to take part on a little survey to find out what former students were doing. I responded with almost inverse triumphalism that I was unemployed - well, call me old fashioned but, to me, a job is something you do roughly 9 to 5, 5 days per week until you or your employer decide otherwise - supply doesn't cut the mustard being just a couple of days a week (if you are lucky). Sadly this was the closest I got to dinting the armour of the mighty HE establishment. I had obviously bombed out at the first stage on the guys's flowchart and he just gave me a phone number to make an appointment for CV advice. So I might do that.

So, I can't do anything about my age, I'm doing what I can about the job situation, what about the weight problem? I have bitten the bullet and joined my local branch of Slimming World - oh! the indignity! Now I do have a little history with Slimming World. In 1999 I joined for the first time and enjoyed significant success. I lost 2 stones and felt great. Sadly I put 3 stones back on. I have waddled around since with my excess baggage, eating what I want when I want and kidding myself that I am a dress size smaller than I am in reality. I turned up at the local recreation centre and was talked through the 'eating plan' (diet is a 4-letter word!). The 'consultant' opened with, " Now, before I go through the plan with you, I want to say well done for just coming through the door, I know it's hard..." Perhaps it would have been more appropriate for me to be lowered by a crane through the ceiling? No, I'm not that big - I had a good 6 inches of clearance on either side of me as I entered through the door!

I tipped the scales at 12 st 4.5 lbs - eek! I'm only 5'3"! According to the Body Mass Index in the Slimming World books, That puts me just inside the purple zone which places my health at a significant risk. Not quite morbidly obese but definitely time for drastic action. And to ease things along I have invested in Davina's Super Body Workout (did I say 'ease'?). If I can shoehorn myself out of my armchair, I shall aim to do it 3 times a week. I am certainly not shelling out for gym membership.

I am hoping that tackling the weight problem will assist in the other two areas. I will look a bit younger and this in turn will help me get a job. I think I have uncovered an inherent ageism in primary school recruitment panels. And I wouldn't be surprised if they were fatist, too.

The Woolies Lament.

In the last week we have seen the demise of one of those great high street shops, Woolworth. In the past few months we have seen the deaths of two wonderful women from our parish church community. I was lucky to have been able to attend the requiem masses of both women to pay my last respects to them. It always amazes me how you can learn so much about people from their eulogy. I ask myself why I didn't know these things when they were alive and they could have told me themselves. So it is with the passing of Woolworth. I discovered that the first UK branch of Woolworth was on Church Street in Liverpool. This is important, why did I not know this? I have never known a shop mourned so sincerely by a nation as Woolies. I suspect that the passing of this chainstore stands as a symbol of something much bigger, the passing of a way of life.

My first job, a Saturday job between the ages of 14 and 16, was at Woolworths. Education was simpler then - most people did O levels or CSEs. The academics stayed on for A levels and possibly (though not exclusively) university. It was accepted that for some jobs, no qualifications were needed, some required a handful of O levels/CSEs, some required A levels and others required a degree/diploma. There was a role for everyone. Probably the majority got a full time job at 16 and those for whom the education system hadn't worked were enrolled on a YOP scheme, ie an opportunity to gain some work experience whilst obtaining a modest sum of money from the Government. Important to note that the YOP scheme and its successors were heavily critiqued at the time but I wonder if we really have anything better now. I remember sitting down and writing half a dozen letters, on spec, to Personnel Departments (HR) of local organisations that were 'good companies to work for' on the advice of my mum and dad. Littlewoods (mail order and pools), the Gas Board, Royal Insurance, Mersey Docks and Harbour Board and United Biscuits. Within the week, I had replies from all, most promising to keep my name on file but one invitation to interview at the Royal Insurance, where I got my first full time job.

I loved my time at the Royal Insurance. We worked in a modern building in the business end of Liverpool and we were well looked after. There was a profit-sharing scheme, cheap company mortgages after a period of eligibility and a lively sports and social dimension. We had a fab staff restaurant with good quality subsidised meals and panoramic views of the Mersey, to boot (I reckon views would be lost now, thanks to the level of building which is slowly destroying the Liverpool skyline.) We could get free flu jabs each year from our fully equipped medical suite. We even had an onsite gym overlooked by the staff bar...yes, the staff bar, open each evening with subsidised booze. But then this is before the days of binge drinking. Oh, did I forget to mention flexitime?

I may have been mad, but I took the trip across the road to Littlewoods after a year as the money was better. I spent 12 years at Littlewoods until after the 'old man' had died and 'the family' seemed more interested in carving up the inheritance than looking after the company...at least that is how it seemed at the time. The old man in question was Sir John Moores, or Mr John as he was known by his extended family of employees. Even into his dotage, he would come into the office each day, latterly in his wheelchair with the aid of his assistant. I am convinced that 'young Mr Grace' of Are you Being Served? was based on him.

Littlewoods paid for me to do a Business Studies qualification on day release. This wasn't so unusual back then. Nowadays, the Government is so busy sucking up to big business that the education system has been all but ruined in the bid to provide skills that industry needs. Back in my day, industry and business were investors in people and put their hands in their pockets to equip workers with the necessary skills to succeed in their work. Even the much applauded 'modern apprenticeship' schemes are a shadow of the real, 4-year apprenticeships which we used to have.

Aye, the times they are a changin'

Those who know me, see if you can spot me on these museum exhibits! Just click on the photo to see a bigger version.

Littlewoods Further Education Awards 1981

Littlewoods Further Education Awards 1982

Huge thanks to my good mate Jon Birch for his Woolies cartoon at the top of the post.

Happy 2009!

Blimey, its been ages since my last post. I suppose I've been waiting for something to happen but very little has happened in the last few months which is worth recording. More than anything, I'm waiting for a job. I have been working as a supply teacher since September. This has been an interesting experience. I find I am often greeted by children saying, "Are you our supply teacher?" to which I respond in the affirmative. This provokes a response, "Yisss!!" Now I would like to think this means they are looking forward to some interesting and stimulating educational activities. In reality, it means they are looking forward to high jinks with someone they probably will never see again after today. I would never have believed that children so young could be so devious. As a supply you never have the chance to develop that all important relationship with the children which enables you to develop strategies for dealing with poor behaviour. I have, however, had some delightful classes, often in schools serving areas of significant social deprivation. I have found that a strong, slightly scary head generally means well-behaved classes.

A good benefit of doing supply is that you get a chance to visit lots of schools and see which ones you would like to work in. You also get lots of ideas which you can incorporate into your own class when (if) you get it. You also see lots of things NOT to include in your own class. The worst idea so far, is not having afternoon break (I don't have a problem with no afternoon break if it means finishing 15 mins earlier) but instead having 'tuck' in the middle of the afternoon. I cannot fathom the wisdom of allowing the children to fill themselves with apparently unlimited e-numbers in the middle of lessons. Surely this just encourages spending the last hour bouncing off the walls! I can't see me going back to that particular school.

The only other thing to report from the end of 2008 is the arrival of Cleo. She is about 8 months old and is a rescue cat who came to live with us about two months ago. She is very sweet but rather mischievous. Not sure she loves me as much as she could, but that is because I am the only one in the house to impose any boundaries.

Desires for 2009? At the moment, I want more than anything to find a job, preferably a permanent post but in all likelihood a maternity leave cover to start my induction year. I crave my own class. That said, I am considering taking any job, even one outside of teaching, just to keep the wolf from the door. The credit crunch is likely to be tough for us, since his Lordship is in Sales and his wages are largely commission-based. I really need to pull my weight a bit more. My other desire is to get to 2010 relatively unscathed by the financial crisis.

This Worship Malarkey (1)

Preamble (or is that pre-ramble?):

I have been intrigued by a discussion that has been taking place over on Jonny Baker's blog about worship. I find, on my travels through the blogosphere that the is a significant amount of discontent around the whole issue of worship, though I think what we are really talking about is communal worship. I can engage up to a point with this debate, as a bog-standard worshipper ... but the debate is largely based in protestant circles, and well, I'm ... a Catholic. I am very conscious of the fact that whenever I interact with blogs my comments tend to have me saying in almost apologetic tones, "I'm a Roman Catholic". No, I'm not embarrassed about it, I have had many opportunities to jump ship, I've even had invitations to do just that, but in spite of my own personal frustrations I remain, for the time at least, at home. I'm also aware that I started this blog to share the trials and tribulations of being an average worshipper in the Catholic church and I rarely, if ever mention it here. So today, I am going to look at 'The State of Worship in the Universal Church from an Offbeat Catholic's Perspective.

Disclaimer: I ain't no scholar and these are just rambling personal opinions, many of which are in a constant state of flux anyhow. So don't expect much in the way of wisdom here, more a working through of thoughts.

Big bones of contention 1: Singing as the main focus of worship

My exploration of the Protestant denominations will largely be based upon my forays into Anglicanism as that is where most of my journeying has taken me but brief excursions into the Methodist church and free Evangelical setups have also influenced me. I remember first attending an Anglican church in 2000. I was amazed by the use of such things as electric guitars and microphones in the service. They had songs which, OK, a fair proportion of them were embarrassingly sh*te, but some of them wouldn't have sounded out of place in the pop charts. And when I listened, they were like love songs - WOW! love songs to God, now there's a novelty. These are now spoken of somewhat disparagingly as 'Jesus is my boyfriend' songs, but for someone like me who had spent all her teen years listening to soppy soul classics in her bedroom, yearning for something other than unrequited love from the spotty lad on the No. 11 bus, it seriously spoke my language. And as an added bonus, it added a more spiritual flavour to my shower repertoire of Memories (Gladys Knight) and the theme from Mahogany (Diana Ross). But it seems that the church's reliance upon the sugary worship song is beginning to wear a bit and some folk (good Anglican word) are becoming quite vocal in their desire for a change in direction, worship-wise. Charges of cosiness and lack of engagement with pain abound.

The Catholic church can be categorised into 3 main types: The real progressives who sing 'modern' folk hymns from such recent times as the 1970s, though a rogue one or two Graham Kendrick numbers may have crept in there; the traditional hymn lovers to whom the accoustic guitar is anathema and only the good ole organ will do; those who don't like any music at all. These three groups can be accommodated in most parishes by just having a mass in each of the styles. The mass is the mass, that is a non-negotiable but we can mess about with the music bit. As we can be a bit insular, we haven't yet discovered modern worship songs so haven't had the opportunity to tire of them. Perhaps I am being a little unfair - I gather there are one or two Catholic churches in the country where the modern worship genre is the way but I have yet to encounter one myself. They are the stuff of legend, like the unicorn and the Holy Grail. If there is one thing that bugs me, it's that we have some really fantastic stuff going on in our Catholic secondary schools and yet none of it filters through to the churches. And we wonder why the teens lose interest. A lot of the adults lost interest long ago but are too set in their ways to do anything about it.