It is with great sadness that I learn about the further demise of standards in education. What on earth is wrong? (As a retired primary school teacher, I have my own opinions, some of which I have stated in previous blogs….)Where does one start, though, to unravel the great ‘big ball of fankled wool’ that is our education system?

….some big cat’s responsible …..!!

 I have worked alongside wonderful, imaginative, enthusiastic teachers who were subtly (but surely) robbed of their initiative and drive and who eventually became so joyless and over-anxious about their ‘chosen profession’ they sought only to retire. In my very humble opinion one needs to go back to the very beginning….. to the advice given to pupils regarding career choices……to the trainers and training of potential teachers….. to the….woops.!….here I go again……..no, I’m not! I’m going off at a tangent to say a huge ‘WELL DONE’ to all the teachers who have pushed, pulled, guided and cajoled their charges towards their goals this year and can now begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel……. yippee!!!!!…. a break.!…. a longed for holiday..!… and then…..( sorry about this…..)….

…….The beginning of another school year looms. In a few months some children  will slough off school life as they know it and step into another new experience….. a different stage, different teacher, same environment, same uniform (different size!) new shoes (trendy, of course!) and perhaps a (cool!) new schoolbag and pencil-case……. the younger of my two grandsons, Dylan (10 yrs in July) falls into this category…… look out P.6!

For others the change will be more radical. Different school, different uniform, different environment and a ………….(now what is the collective noun for teachers?……. battery?…. gaggle?….confusion?…..murder?…..no, wait, … that’s crows isn’t it?….. hm…)…a brand new staff of teachers….. the elder of my two grandsons, Isaac, now twelve, fits this demographic…… High School looms…….. and I can’t believe it.

Then there are those who are leaving school behind them for good – who in actual fact have left already – to find themselves a place in the world via further education, the jobs market or a gap year – in the hope of ‘finding themselves’…… my youngest granddaughter, Ciara, is teetering on the edge of this ‘great unknown’……her eighteenth birthday, just five months away.

Where has the time gone? I feel so blessed to be around (…. and who says the ‘dear departed’ aren’t too?…) to witness these endings and beginnings ….as I have with my own children and my three other granddaughters, Sarah, Becca and Caitlin. Each birthday brings a silent prayer that I’ll still ‘be around’ for the next ‘celebration’……. which is every day as far as I’m concerned! We’ve laughed, cried, argued, debated, huffed, puffed, shown our worst and best sides, counselled and consoled…… what more can I say?……..they’re mine and I love them all… dearly….. for who and what they are and hope to be. They have brought me along with them on their respective journeys, showered me with new and wonderful experiences ……. and taught me a great deal…… x

I found this poem ‘among my souvenirs’ which I wrote after a visit to ‘The Strath’ when Isaac was barely two and Dylan had not yet been born. I call it a poem but I think it is more of an ‘epic’ – if length is anything to go by!! Back then I called it, ‘Educating Nana’ and I’m sticking with that title…….have a read….go on…. indulge me…. 

Foxytaletime

Educating Nana