The Leys pt1

I'm nearly 2 weeks into my 6 week summer stint at the Leys.  I am definitely pacing myself more than last time. I haven't quite got the same buzz as last year.  It still pretty good, however, and I certainly enjoy being here.  Only about 25% of the staff were here last year.. mostly on the teaching or houseparent side.  It seems a slightly better team but things have still been going wrong.  It is inevtiable that some organisation is let down by complacency - what I mean is that there are some tried and tested Bell activities which work and others which need more impromptu planning.  Sometimes, just an occasional misunderstanding about the time of a west end show can lead to a big problem, when all planning goes down the pan.  I have been teaching a B1 class of 14 students, made up of 8 different nationalities - Brazilian, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Danish, German and Spanish.  I chose 'the mind' for their project and my lessons have been loosely psychological, including a lot of 'memory' related stuff.  We all go into Cambridge on Saturday to interview 100 people about their memory.  Before that, we will do an adpated 'murder mystery' in which one of the students is a murderer but doesn't know and everyone has to work out who killed my fellow teacher, Daniella.  


It's most generously gorgeous weather, with just a bit of rain during the kids trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon.  I haven't left Cambridge yet, with the small exception of a shuttle run to Stansted on the first arrivals day.  I have also offered to drive the minibus to Cottenham for the 17 horse riders.  


The highlight so far has probably been having 60 or so kids packed out in my classroom watching the FIFA World Cup Final between Spain and Holland.  It wasn't meant to be that way, but an ill-conceived idea to show the screen outside, projected onto a cricket white screen meant that at kick-off the match wasn't being shown as promised.  Several teachers had to open up their classrooms and allow excitable, sweaty teens in for live streaming on the internet.  The right result prevailed and we just about managed to watch the whole game, including extra time and the winning goal before 'toro toro' exercises on the cricket pitch and off to house meetings.

The oddest thing so far, apart from very odd students, is the sudden departure of one of the teachers.  Without going into detail,  because I don't have all the facts and because this is public, one member of staff with a long history of working for Bell during the summer has been asked to leave.  I will just say that I am saddened by this as I class the person as a friend and a good laugh.. but I guess their behaviour, which hasn't changed, was no longer being tolerated. 


I haven't made any plans about what to do after the Leys finishes (18 August) but I am toying with one idea which will take me far away to a new, challenging land for a short time... I don't want to say exactly where otherwise it might worry some people... suffice to say, it would be with Bell.

For Whom The Bell Tolls

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I'm back in Cambridge after 3 weeks down in Bedgebury, Kent at Bell HQ.  It has been so good to get back to work after a month kicking my heels around Wells.  After 2 consecutive days off, with the Lensfield Hotel being my base, I begin 6 solid weeks at The Leys tomorrow, ending on 18 August. I have nothing confirmed yet for after that, except a mini break back home and either a return to Bedgebury for the Autumn explorer or a trip to Italy.  Thanks to disruptive and annoying Luigi, I am now the proud owner of an Italian baseball cap.

Yesterday I spent my day off doing a bit of shopping and watching both remaining World Cup quarter-final games.  After tagging along with the Bedgebury kids for a shortened walking tour of the city centre, I camped out at the Castle, Regent Street, alongside a German who just happened to have come up from Bedgebury for the day with adult learners from the International School.   We witnessed the obliteration of Argentina, before I returned later for a slice of Spanish carnival atmos... and a tense but deserved 1-0 victory over Paraguay.  Surrounded by non-paying Spanish kids, I had my face painted with the colours of the Rojigualda and had my beer knocked over during the goal celebration.  No harm done.  I ended the evening talking to a temporarily homeless guy on Parker's Piece.  


It was enjoyable down in Bedgebury, where I met a whole load of Bell employees who I am sure i will bump into again in the future.  I particularly liked Rob (centre manager), Ronan (French houseparent turned teacher), Elliot (outspoken northerner), Aby (now at Bloxham), Polish Joanna (activities), Polish Iwona and Dorset lass, Lucinda (fellow teachers).  My project themes for each week were 'national identity', 'psychology' and 'travel and tourism'.  The 2nd week was the best, culminating in a 'murder by the lake'.  The food was good and I managed to steer myself through potential troublespots and do my job more than satisfactorily.  My observation class in the 3rd week went well enough... some pointers for future lessons but overall it was good.  As a warm-up for the summer it was certainly warm, and definitely right.  I've fitted in trips to the Tate Modern and V+A in London as well as Hever Castle.. all trips baked in glorious sunshine and bored Italians.

I have bought a new digital camera out of my wages from Bedgebury, and a dongle (wireless access) as well as a few movie posters to decorate my new classroom.  Now it's off to watch Rafa Nadal in the Men's Final at Wimbledon to see if he can complete a joyous weekend for Spain.

By the middle of next week, I might be Italian again.