17 July 2009

Speech

All week it has been about saving stuff and chucking other stuff out - getting my classroom ready for the next incumbent. I had kept news of my going secret from the pupils but in the last two days, my fifteen year olds got wind of what was happening. There were hugs and photographs, tears and cards. At breaktime I danced like a maniac with my "harem" of English teachers and Moira brought in two lovely homemade cakes. I picked the lemon one with lemon cream and lemon icing - delicious.

The clock was ticking and the end of term buffet was nigh. Does anybody really look forward to giving speeches? Two ICT (Computer) teachers were leaving after just one year. Then there was Adam the Technology teacher transferring elsewhere after five years in the job, Head of Art Derek - seconded to be a trainer with a fast-track graduate teacher programme, Emma the fellow English teacher promoted to another Sheffield school and Sandra the Science technician leaving after fifteen years in the job. Last but not least was yours truly.

Having worked for Sheffield Council for more than twenty five years, I knew I'd be getting an official citation in appreciation of my service though a fat cheque would have been nicer - "...you have worked tirelessly... continuously conveyed your passion for your subject.... totally committed to the education of young people in your care.... devoted service... well-respected."

Then it was my turn. I was determined to leave that workplace with dignity, a sense of achievement and a certain light-heartedness. Not for me the bitter departures I have witnessed from various departees in recent years - people who felt they had been truly shafted, blaming a self-righteous but ineffective senior management team led by the gabbling innovation-addicted harridan we call the headteacher.

I was calm and unhurried. I gave a history lesson about how the school had changed in quarter of a century. I praised the non-teaching staff and raised laughter when I referred to the number of cleaners I had been through. Above all, I praised my immediate colleagues for their energy, commitment and their unwavering support. I finished by referring to a memory I have retained since 1978 when I was a young teacher in the mining village of Dinnington.

It was early September. I looked out of my tumbledown terrapin classroom and saw two eleven year old boys wandering on the adjacent school field. I went out to them and I could see that one was clutching a map. Because a map is not three dimensional, the mapmaker had drawn the first floor Science suite in the nice empty space where the little boys were now walking. "What are you doing here?" I said. "We're looking for Science," they replied. Ending my speech, I said I very much identified with those two boys and their geographical dilemma.

There was warm applause and afterwards many hugs, handshakes, kisses, good wishes. I finally drove away, not quite knowing how I would feel but a voice from deep inside me said "Thank Christ that's over!" It was my time to go. I felt it in my bones.

11 comments:

  1. What an odd statement from the voice deep inside for a self-proclaimed atheist to make!

    As we say here in the States, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

    When I retired I said I didn't want to see a sunrise or a rush hour for six months, and I didn't. I wish for you whatever the Sheffield equivalent of that is.

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  2. Perfectly lovely leave-taking, YP. If I ever get across the pond, I'll buy you a pint (or two).

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  3. Well, it's half an hour into the first day of your retirement - - just checking if a desire to mark exercise books has come over you yet? - - No, thought not. Good.

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  4. You got there, at last. Well done, you and welcome to the rest of your life. :)

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  5. I thought of you yesterday, as I lurched through my own last day of term; I wondered how you would be feeling on your final day at school.

    I'm sure you'll enjoy life after teaching. What next I wonder?

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  6. Well done, it can't have been easy.

    I'm sure there are bits you'll miss about it, but not many.

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  7. I wish you well, and it is a sad loss for a Yorkshire school. I went to a state school in Leeds (left in 1980) and the teachers back then were OK (if a bit eccentric) and didn't seem in any rush to leave. What's changed since then?
    Whatever it is, it makes me glad my kids are at a school in Australia where the teachers still seem to retain a positive outlook.

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  8. Sounds like a successful last day. I wish you well in your retirement.

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  9. RHYMES I was taking the name of the Lord in vain!
    MS GEORGE I'm thirsty now.
    DAPHNE All those red markings and comments and targets are the stuff of nightmares.
    JENNYTA Yes my dear. Made it o the other side - Where The Wild Things Are!
    THREE LEGGED RAT Lurching in schools is not advised. I will keep you informed of "what next".
    BANNEDCOCK BOOBS Thirty two years...some of it becomes part of you. Complete excision is impossible.
    MICHAEL In my work with children I very much did retain a positive outlook right to the end and thirty two years in the job hardly seems like rushing to leave! The energy required in modern day schools serving deprived areas linked with the governmental pressure to achieve "acceptable" results means that very few people ever make it right through to sixty.
    VALERIE Thanks for your kind wishes.

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  10. Hoorah, hoorah, congratulations on a bold and wise decision. Here's to a self-determined future.

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  11. YP - just to remind you - don't go to work tomorrow!! I suggest shouting WOOOHOOO a few times instead.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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