So.
It’s been a long, hard, day. No, really! In amongst the pre-school meeting; the marking; the trying to keep your errant Year 11s just on this side of hysteria, given they have their second English Lit exam on Friday; the data (two classes’ worth, by lunchtime, thanks very much); the lunchtime storytelling club for younger pupils; the broken photocopiers; and the almost insignificant matter of actually teaching, you need an oasis of calm.
Or two …
Oasis number one: sitting with my Y13s in a philosophical mood, starting with Francis Bacon‘s ‘Of Revenge’ and chasing the rabbit right through Richard III, Edward II, and Maud, via the football field and cheating boyfriends. Thanks for listening, troops.
Oasis number two (and the reason for this post): a quiet, reflective beer on the way home at one of my regular haunts. Don’t be put off by Beerwolf‘s rather dusty website (get this sorted, Alan!) – just get down here, if you are visiting. Except it wasn’t quiet or reflective for a while, because I bumped into one of our sixth formers …
ME: ‘I thought you’d been kicked out. I never see you.’
H: ‘I don’t do English any more. It’s proper subjects, like Maths and IT.’
Challenge on – this led to an extended ‘discussion’ about the benefits of teaching Literature, about the fact that I couldn’t motivate myself to teach anything else, about the value – the joy it brings me. About the fact that here I was (as close to a well-deserved night off as I could get), trying to produce yet another, hopefully more vivid, accessible resource to teach kids, true – but also to wallow in the beauty and complexity that is Literature, and Shakespeare.
You can’t do that with Maths, H …
The Boar's Head, Eastcheap 
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