Greetings Friends!
I hope you are healthy, contented and safe and thank you for visiting today.
Well, I have had a busy week or so, having finished school last Wednesday, the 21st July and travelled up to Northumberland on the train the next morning.
The last 2 weeks of term was sad and happy at the same time with a few challenges.
The penultimate week of term, I was lucky enough to be involved in the only school trip of the year. Our local borough's Music hub had applied for funding from the recovery fund to run a Year 6 singing festival and we applied to participate. It meant we had 3 singing teachers coming into our school for the last half term once a week to teach the 90 year 6 children a set of songs that they would perform at a local theatre. If it wasn't for restriction changes and rising Covid numbers, it would have been several schools performing together (but with social distancing in place) at the theatre though on stage at different times with an opportunity for parents to watch. In this case, it was just OUR school in the theatre for a morning session. We teachers were SO excited to be going on a trip, as were the children (with a few reluctant singers being a bit unenthusiastic about going) and set off on the coach. I had to tell off the child who moaned, "Ugh, why do we have the trash coach?" and called him ungrateful and asked what he expected of a school trip that he had to pay absolutely nothing for, the only trip in the entire year and asked if he fancied paying an additional £800+ for all of us. Honestly, not sure what a 'fancy' coach would look like. Hope he doesn't make that mistake of saying that in my hearing again!
We set off and arrived at the theatre! We lined the children up outside the theatre and I felt a lump in my throat to be here at a theatre and to have taken the opportunity that was offered to us. This theatre is one that I have performed at throughout my whole life- I saw my first performance there, "Princess Ida", sang in my first musical there 'The Happy Prince' and then 'Finian's Rainbow, played my first main part there, Agnes in "Meet me in St Louis", played my first gig in the orchestra pit, "Let's make an opera" by Benjamin Britten and played for my first paid gig, "The Magic Flute" by Mozart. I was SO happy to be there.
I took my designated class (their class teacher was off sick) into the studio and the kids had a rehearsal with their vocal coach. We then got the kids changed into their special t-shirts (they got these as part of the performance!) and took them to sit in the auditorium. There was a live band and the Musical Director, Lighting team, a compere and a professional camera crew who were going to film the performance to stream for the parents later on. The children sang several songs together and then one class at a time went onto the stage to perform their own special songs they'd been rehearsing with their coaches.
The whole thing was SO professionally done and the kids were having a WHALE of a time. Certain children were chosen as soloist to stand at the front with microphones whilst the rest were on tiering staging with the band behind them at a distance. Every single one sang their hearts out and we were all astonished and touched by the passion with which the special soloists did their bit. We all actually shed a tear and were having a whale of a time cheering them on! The children behaved impeccably and I hope this is a life experience they would never forget! I know I was super impressed with them and thankful for the opportunity. The other teachers said it made their year. After that, we were all given a packed lunch in a brown paper bag. My class were all given the recycling lecturer and told what they had to do with each separate element in their bag to ensure it was recycled and those who don't have home recycling gave theirs to me. They all took it good naturedly- they are used to me by now and there are a few who care a lot about it too. I asked the kids who had been reluctant to go if I had proved them wrong and they'd enjoyed it and they relented and said, "Yes," it had been really fun! We got on the coach and went back to school where I had about 15minutes before I had to go and take my last class of the day, a year 5 class who were performing their own fanfares.
After school, I had A, a flute player, come to my room for a final flute lesson. He's not my pupil, he has a flute teacher but he was auditioning to get into the band at the local music hub and I've been giving him some extra support to ensure he gets in. (The previous week, I'd given him 1/2 an hour before school and an hour after school and he'd then gone home and done 1.5 hours practice to consolidate what I'd worked on which made my time all the more worth it. The next day, he'd come in for another 20 minute session before school and learnt all his scales from memory and learnt his piece.). We practised together and then I sent him on his way with my spare flute as his had a little leak on one of the keys. I am happy to say that I had an email yesterday to say he was successful in his audition!
The penultimate Friday, my Head teacher allowed me to get the school orchestra kids together to do a final rehearsal and to film them playing for their parents. I am SO gutted to lose them- they have been the most brilliant, dedicated team of children and I am so sad they didn't get to do a proper concert. At least I was allowed to do that though!
Another fun activity that penultimate week was doing a lesson on 2 of Benjamin Britten's sea interludes from his opera, Peter Grimes (Dawn and The Storm) , the children seem to loved the pieces and since they are such evocative pieces, really get a lot out of listening to them.
I had chat with my newish work colleague and weirdly discovered that although our ages are 10 years apart:
a) we went to the same music school.
b) had the same flute teacher
c) went to the same teacher training college (no one else in my school I've ever met trained there)
d) went to the same undergraduate university.
The final week, the Monday was difficult was my room was like a furnace with the hot weather! I don't want to moan about the good weather because we've had our fair share of rotten weather but unfortunately, my music room is one that does not fare well in the warm weather. Unfortunately, my room only has 3 small high up windows which don't open far and allow no breeze and the room for 30 children to sit in is pretty small and the open door, whilst letting in fresh air, didn't make the slightest bit of difference to the temperature and the aircon is broken so it was pretty disgusting in there and got progressively sweatier and smellier throughout the day. However, we managed to get through all our lessons intact.
The Tuesday was a quiet day as half the class in all my lessons were away because of Eid. However, I had a lovely final session with my year 6 classes, giving them a brief introduction to Javanese Gamelan.
My musos in my favourite class hung around at playtime to chat as they are sad to leave me as I am sad to leave them.
The final day, I spent some of the morning sorting out my room but also delivering messages to the year 6's for their leavers books which I'd written for them. The kids were really sweet and several told me how much they liked what I'd written. I had lots of visitors bringing me presents and some really sweet messages. We had a final leavers assembly for Year 6 where they sang (and we filmed) the new song that I and one of the year 6 teachers had co-written for them (lyrics by him, melody and accompaniment by me)- this is going to be our school song every year for Leavers.
Around 12pm, my friend Lara arrived to do the tuning and repairs on our school pianos (at the same time as the Music Hub arrived to collected our cornets). Annoyingly, I ended up having to accompany her in the hall and I ended up not getting to say a final goodbye to the kids in the playground as the hall clock was wrong!
At 2pm, all staff headed out to eat a lunch provided outside by the SLT and then we had speeches for those staff who were leaving.
Everyone was leaving at this point to go to the pub but I had to go and finish tidying and cleaning my room, esp as I'd lost an hour and a half having to stay in the hall. Lara was still doing the piano repairs. Finally, around 4.45pm, she had finished and I had finished so we piled all my stuff into her Mini and she drove me home (yes, I was slightly devious booking her for the end of term which made the usual effort of getting presents home soooo much easier!). It was lovely for us both as she had company on the boring drive home and I didn't have to grapple with public transport. She came into the garden and we had a couple of cups of tea and cake and a good chinwag. I was also able to pass on a whole load of boxes and packaging for her crochet business.
After this, as always I delayed the inevitable hated task of packing till Stupid o'clock. Of course I did sixty billion other pointless jobs first, like shell peas and rationalise the gift bag collection!
Finally finished packaging at around 1.20am and went to bed.
I woke up at 6.15am and got up to do the washing up, water the garden and finish packing etc.
I booked a taxi for 9.30am to the station and set off for my first trip on the train up to London for a year and a half. I wore a mask AND a visor and luckily, chose a time that was quite quiet on both the train AND the Tube train.
Unfortunately, had a bit of an altercation with an anti-vaxxer on the first train. She got on at Stratford. I was absorbed in my book and it wasn't until I heard a ripping sound. I looked up and saw a screwed up 'Do not use this seat' sticker next to her. I frowned, wondering if she had just ripped the sticker off and why. This blonde girl (could have been 15-25 years old) was sitting there and she said,"Look at you, you don't have to wear the mask and yet you are doing it. It's so sad that you are being controlled."
I replied that I didn't mind wearing the mask, it didn't bother me at all. "But you're being controlled."
"But I know people who have died from Covid and I want to protect people and it doesn't harm me" I responded.
"I know people who have died from Cancer in the last year!" she retorted.
"Have you read the leaflet?" she asked. I looked down and noticed these white leaflets had appeared on the seats around. I glanced at it and saw it was all about being anti vaccinating children. She then started ranting about vaccines. At which point I said, "Stop, I'm sorry but I don't agree and I don't want to talk to you about this."
"You're so closed minded, just like so many people. You don't want to listen to other people." she angrily responded.
"I'm not closed minded. I read your leaflet but I think vaccines are important. People are still dying of Covid" I calmly replied.
"Well, my friend died of cancer and they put the death down as Covid. Don't make conversation if you don't want to discuss it" she responded.
"You started the conversation, I didn't," I said. "I just looked up to see what the ripping sound was."
I sat fuming in my seat, wishing I didn't feel so scared and shaky talking about it to this stranger and angry at being called closed-minded when she was probably some stupid anti-vaxxer with no qualification to be talking about this.
As I got up to get out at Liverpool street I decided to say something.
"I just want to say, if you want to win people over to your cause, you shouldn't insult people" I told her.
"I thought you didn't want to talk about it. And then you're coming at me saying I'm rude. I'm not rude, I told you you were entitled to your opinion. Don't come at me saying I'm rude," she angrily responded (some other people were now standing near me.)
"I'm not coming at you. If I were you and someone said they didn't want to talk, I would not have insulted them, I would have said, "Sorry to have disturbed you and please could you take the time to read the leaflet as I think it's really important." Just a thought." I replied.
As I went to get the Circle line (happily quiet), I really felt shaken and nervous at having had this conversation.
The journey to King's Cross was fine. I went to get my Newcastle train and was in the first carriage- first class. It was wonderful as I had a set of 4 sets round a table to myself, despite the train being pretty full. My ticket was HIDEOUSLY expensive last minute and it was the last one available on most trains.
First class was superb though. Everyone wore their masks and I was brought a bacon roll, a can of lemonade and several cups of tea at times and then crisps and a Brownie later on. The train was about 15minutes delayed which meant I missed my Hexham connection and had to wait 25minutes on a platform but it had been a really smooth journey which had felt safe in terms of distancing at all times despite my anti-vaxxer incident and I arrived safely to Hexham where CBC came and picked me up.
More on my Hexham activities soon.
Hope you are well!
xx
