Busy Half Term
24 March

This half term has whipped by.

I've started my second placement. The rumours are that there was some almighty cock-up in the allocation of places. Whatever the truth of that, I've ended up doing pretty well out of it as my school is highly thought of and is based in Crosby so, once again, my travelling times are minimal.

I took some time from the course at the end of February to attend the Quaker gathering at Glenthorne. As I am a student, there was some financial assistance which allowed both Ross and I to attend. The theme of the weekend was Wordsworth and, though I cannot pretend that I like the poet any more than I did before, I did get more of a sense of how he fitted into the great sweep of eighteenth and nineteenth century thought.

It won't be long before job hunting becomes a priority. Apparently, the majority of teaching jobs appear between April and June as teachers announce that they are moving on and Boards of Governors look for replacements.

In preparation, Hope organised some mock interviews for us and I ended up in the school where I did all my first voluntary work. It was quite strange. However, I loved the way so many of the children waved and said hello to me by name.

I did take some time out to make a spur of the moment trip to Llandudno to see La Traviata. Jason Howard was a little stiff-backed but more than reasonable as Germont and Joyce El-Khoury produced an effective and affecting portrayal of Violetta. The whole was conducted in sprightly fashion by Julia Jones. I've already seen the production once before and liked it. I still like it but the reason for wanting to see it again was the sudden introduction of Leonardo Capalbo, last seen at Opera Holland Park in Roberto Devereux, as Alfredo. And he was, once more, well worth the ticket price.