Christmas Magic

Apparently teachers ‘enjoy’ 1,500 interactions every day. That’s without the emails. Any other profession would be on a go slow but, strangely, we always think we are doing too little. We fill our days and work nights too.

At the end of a long term, just when we are the point of collapse, along comes Christmas, or whatever we are calling it this year, with its demand that we be of good cheer. The staff may be shattered but the students are increasingly hyped-up and turbo-charged.

The only answer is to join in the festive spirit and have some fun. So, this year’s staff and student Band Aid recordings were screened in the final assembly in the Sports Hall to popular acclaim- thanks to the Media Department.

There’s plenty of talent here and the The Sound of Music DVD highlights was also great to see- another assembly item on our big screen. If you ordered a copy, the full length version should be on television soon near you.

At the evening Carol Service, choir and orchestra performances reminded us that Christmas was about to start. I understand why so many of us enjoy working here: the wonderful young people and the remarkable standards they achieve. The Christmas message of joy and hope filled the hall, as it did again the next day for the repeat performances on the final morning of term. It was magnificent.

We’ve had our own parties as well. The staff event was a triumph with our very own College magician, Brian Hodge, performing magic tricks that involved doves and rabbits- live ones! Brian is a fantastic Trustee and Governor of the College- a real inspiration. And he brought some true Christmas magic.

At last it’s time for turkey and telly. My two children, both of whom attended South Dartmoor, will join us for a family Christmas. After five years of freelancing, Alice has finally got a proper job (annual leave and a pension at 85) as an online reporter at Channel Four News. She cheerfully wounds the politicians as she tells the truth where they bring only spin and falsehoods. Her regular beat, Factcheck, (http://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck) even gives them a score out of 5 for honesty. I can imagine Gordon Brown asking his speech writers: 'Will this get me good marks from Alice on Channel Four? Should we knock a couple of zeros off that optimistic income prediction or do you think she won't notice?' He knows by now…. she always does notice.

Ed is now at the end of his fourth year at Oxford which followed four years at Durham which followed thirteen years in school so he can probably add up for himself how long that is. As his declared ambition is to go straight into retirement, I don’t think he’s got long to wait. The DPhil is still around the corner but he’s managing to live on air and avoid even a Saturday job stacking shelves in Sainsbury’s. He has had some of his original research published; it’s in a scientific language that’s incomprehensible to the lay person, though he could probably hold a conversation with Dr Who.

Happy Christmas to all blog readers!