All is still quiet on the 'Satanist' front. They have not yet been to the head of department to explain why they should be excused from a range of tasks in RE.

Tomorrow, it's possible that they will declare that they cannot participate in the lesson, as we will be looking at Concientious Objectors, and Satanism is based on revenge.

Today was rather eventless. We did get a wasp in the classroom at one point, so the class was in uproar for a while. It's amazing what havoc such a small creature can cause. It's also quite amazing that screaming and flapping at it is supposed to deter it and make it go away. Why are they so afraid of these creatures? "Because it'll hurt if it stings, Miss". Ignore it, and it'll go away. Shout and flap at it, and it'll get angry and sting. "But we're scared of it, Miss!" At this point, I patiently explained that if it did decide to sting me in particular, I was likely to end up in a very bad way as I'm allergic to wasps. I asked if anyone else had the same condition... No takers...? Right, let's get on with the lesson...

"But surely Jesus looked good in a toga?"

"But Miss, Jesus couldn't have been that short!"

"How do you know he didn't have blond hair?"

"He must have been good looking! He's the Son of God!"

"How do you know he ever even existed?!"

I inwardly, and possibly even outwardly groaned, as I was hit by this barrage of questions and exclamations from my Year 9s. They find it very difficult to believe that Jesus was of similar colouring as the people you see on the news coverage from Israel / Palestine; that he was somewhat shorter than people today - they can accept that 2,000 years ago people in general were shorter than we are, but not Jesus!

They also think Jesus would have looked good in a toga! Quite when they think Jesus wore one, I do not know.

These teenagers still hold the idealistic, handsome, delightful physical view of Jesus that most 6 year olds have. They do still think it's likely that he was blond, and from what I can gather, the girls think that he must have looked like some kind of cross between a surfer and a boyband member... They think that because he's the son of God, Jesus was pretty.

Then, there are the sceptics... How could I really, honestly dare to suggest that Jesus existed at all?! But, yes, they know that Julius Caesar existed; they fail to see why this view may be at all problematic. Perhaps all of the people - yes, all of them - who wrote about Jesus were indeed, lying. But, the ones who wrote about Julius Caesar weren't. He was a Roman Emperor, so he must have existed.

I think, though, maybe the questions, comments and denials of Jesus are all overshadowed by the wannabe Satanists. A piece of work involved looking up a Bible quote: "But Miss, we can't touch the Bible. It's against our religion; we're Satanists. It's not even a cult any more, Miss; there's enough people for it to be declared a religion!". I explained to them that when they brought me a note from their parents, I would excuse them from tasks such as this; however, getting notes is, apparently, impossible "My mum doesn't agree with my religion". So, I gave them the option of going to the head of department, and explaining the situation to her - so far, they have not made it that far. Then, of course, they tried, "You wouldn't make a Muslim do this!", well, yes, I would. Then, the icing on the cake... "Do you know the principle of Satanism, Miss? It's based on 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth', so all this Bible stuff is really screwing me up." And where exactly do you think 'an eye for an eye' comes from?....

Well, Cyprus was good.

Back at school now, but most definitely on the home-straight. I'm in my last half term of school experience now!

I'm going to Cyprus today!!!!!

Schemes of work... Grr.

Year 11s... Yuk.

6 more days of teaching til Easter... Fantastic.

In a week and a half I will be in Cyprus. I'm so looking forward to it. It's about 20-22 degrees there at the moment. Bliss! It's been about 5 degrees here today, so the extra warmth will be much appreciated.

Me?!! Blogging again! Who would have thought it?

School's going well, which is good... Less than two weeks til Easter! & less than 3 months til I finish my PGCE.

Tiredness is still a big feature in my life; planning, evaluating and marking all take time... But I'm still enjoying it.

Job hunting too, but I'm not doing too well with that. I think it's partly due to my complete inability to write coherent application letters... I find "selling myself" a completely stupid and insincere idea.

I don't know why I'm tired, but I am... Only had one lesson today, as my Year 8s were out of school. Tomorrow, I teach lots.

I have some assignments to be doing, but I only have a couple more left to do after next week.

It's the Easter holiday in just over 2 weeks, & I'll be off to Cyprus in just under 3 weeks - I'm very excited. I bought my suitcase yesterday, it's hot pink, so it'll be easier to find on the carousel thingy.

It'll be warm and sunny in Cyprus. I keep telling myself this when I'm in a cold classroom...

Saw some amazing photos of embryos/foetuses today; I'm teaching abortion to Year 10, and their "normal" teacher had a page from a newspaper showing photos of embryos and foetuses - so much detail, even in really early stages.

At the weekend, I'm going down to Exeter, so that should be good. My little sister will be 6 tomorrow. That makes me feel old.

Well, 'tis nearly the end of another week... I'm so tired! I've spent almost all of this week thinking it's a day later than it really is (just wishful thinking, hoping for the weekend, methinks), so just how I've managed to get to all of the right lessons at the right times, I don't know!

But, just one more day before the weekend & Year 9 have PSHCE in the hall tomorrow, so hopefully, there'll be not much to do there. Other than that I have a Year 10 group, and then (unfortunately) a Year 9 group last thing!! It's the most difficult lesson of the fortnight, and it's really not one that I look forward to...

My next essay is due in two weeks, when I go back to college, along with my profile; but the fact that I'm in college for the day in two weeks means that I don't have Year 9 last thing that day!!

Other than that, I'm still looking for jobs...

I forgot to say, my "drama" lesson was on the story of Moses. We did a freeze-frame; the pupils were in groups of 6, and took on a character from the story and told the story from that character's point of view. It was really good - I had some FANTASTIC pharoahs!

Well, had my first observation from college today, and it went really well. In some ways, I was quite surprised, because I basically did a drama lesson with an RE theme. Had to move all of the tables out of the way, and then put them back before the end of the lesson, but it was all OK. I enjoyed it loads, and so did the kids, which was great.

No teaching tomorrow, as it's "review day" where all of the kids bring their parents, and talk to the class tutor.

Have had a really nice weekend. My family have been away for pretty much the whole weekend, leaving me & o/h with the house & the weekend to ourselves.

We went shopping to buy some holiday clothes - off to Cyprus in four weeks! Very exciting, and today, we cooked a roast pork dinner, and just relaxed. Unfortunately, he has gone home now, & I'm all alone again...

This weekend, I have also learnt where a lot of places are in the country; have been going through the TES jobs pages & looking at the locations of different schools... Not too keen on the big city idea, but can't go anywhere too remote, as o/h needs to be able to find work too...

Tired... That pretty much describes me now... Essays, lesson plans, lesson evaluations, teaching... Oh, and trying to have a life too - I'm quite good at succeeding with that bit, though my attempts to go to the gym in recent weeks have been pitiful to put it mildly, and my life has to fit in before 10:30 on school nights. If I'm not in bed by then, I'm not good the next day...

At the moment, I want to expand my CD collection - thankfully my man has hundreds of the things, so we can share... But, there's definitely not enough Green Day going on in either of our collections, and the same can be said for the Foo Fighters, so that's where our expansions will be starting.

Still, lesson plans and evaluations are calling...

Sometimes, talking about the future, and major changes that are going to happen in your life can be somewhat strange, especially when it's so easy to be caught up in the moment and what's happening now, and maybe tomorrow, but not much further in the future than that.

But, "the show must go on..."

It's the weekend!!! I love school, but weekends are still great.

Today, I had a good discussion on abortion with my Year 10 group, and then did some crowd control this afternoon with a Year 9 group (last lesson on Friday's always a toughie!).

"I know an island where the people are kind, and the rest of the world seems far away. Maybe it's only in the back of my mind, but I know when I go that's where I'll stay."

I made an origami lotus flower (nothing fancy / complicated!). It has the 4 Noble Truths on the inside, and the 8fold Path on the outside. I like it, but not sure if / how I'll use it in lessons...

Well, I've been back at school for nearly a whole week now, and it's been good. It was surprisingly hard to get back into the swing of school though, but I know that I wasn't alone in that feeling - it was shared with many others in the staffroom.

So far, my lessons have been going well, which is nice - I do have some fairly challenging classes & room changes due to a variety of things, but I haven't had any disasters yet.

I have my first interview next Wednesday, which is exciting but nerve-wracking at the same time.

Not really much news going on at the minute - had lots of snow today, but it didn't settle.

Finally, all I have to say is "I'm stalking a fan, he lives in a high rise block"...

Alas, 'tis nearly the end of half term. Just today, and the weekend, and then it's back to school I go. I do, however, love half terms - they are fantastic things!

I have spent my half term in Exeter with my loved one, which has been very nice. I've written a few application letters, but other than that, I've mainly just been relaxing, and catching up with a few people.

It's amazing how you come to appreciate a week off so much, and how much your insight and outlook change when you're doing a PGCE; it's also funny how much it makes you grow up, and consider what kind of a role model you are. It's so different from life as a degree student! Obviously, fun is still a necessarily important element in life, but you think about what you're doing so much more.

Any way, I'm on a library computer - have had 29 of my 30 minutes, so have to go now!

School...

School is going well, which is nice. I have my first lot of marking to do tonight - some Year 10 exam question answers. I have one more day, and then it's half term, which is nice. I do have things to be doing, and files to be organising during half term, but all the same, I do have time for a break, which will be much appreciated!

Am applying for jobs at the moment - there a bit all over the place though, as there's not much locally. A lot of the jobs advertised at the moment seem to be in Yorkshire, so I could be moving again in a few months.

I don't really have anything very insightful to say, so I'm going to stop saying things now.

Well, I had a good weekend - it was a lot of fun, but now, I'm ill. My kidneys hurt & I generally feel crap. I couldn't get a doctor's appointment today, so I have to phone again in the morning (I have to make my appointment on the day I want it...)

From today, I don't go into college again until March 24th - no more 5:30 mornings for me! I start school properly on Monday, and then a week on Monday, it'll be half term.

It's now only 4 and a half months until I finish my PGCE entirely!

I got my timetable today, which is exciting; I'm teaching two thirds of a timetable this placement - I at least one class from each year group up to (& including) Year Eleven. I didn't get to teach much GCSE at my last school, so I'm really happy that I've got some this time.

Tomorrow, I'm going to London for a banquet and ceilidh (if that's how you spell it), and then on Sunday, I will be marching down Whitehall with lots of other people and a pike, whilst dressed in 17th century clothing. It will be the anniversary of the death of Charles I on Sunday, which is why we're doing this.

Now, I have to go - I have to write a lesson plan on the Last Supper for Monday (for college, not school), and then I'm going to the gym.