Parent Rep

Here in German schools, things are run much more democratically than in England.  At my first disciplinary meeting for a pupil, I was surprised to find so many people there - the pupil, all of her teachers, her parents, the class rep and a parent rep.

At the start of every year, every class elects student representatives to represent the interests of all pupils.  They actually take it very seriously and on the whole, do a good job.

In the same way, the first parents' evening is used to elect parent representatives.  Unfortunately, not all classes have parents who are interested in or able to do the job.  My class is in its second year without a rep.  It doesn't disaadvantage us too much as teachers (some reps can be quite a hinderance to the job) but it is so much nicer to have cooperation.

That is why, in the run up to Isabella's first parents' evening, Nico and I agreed that if there were not enough willing volunteers, we would  be prepared to do the job.

In the event, that is exactly what happened and I volunteered to be the second rep for Isabella's class.  It is a responsibility that I take seriously but to be fair, it's not a huge task.  Next week is our first meeting and we'd like to get the parents together regularly but apart from that, it's just helping out with some events and making sure that the staff have what they need and that the parents are happy.

I'm so looking forward to getting started next week and helping to make Isabella's nursery time very special.

Autumn

Well, Autumn is well and truly here and to prove it I'm fighting off a cold. I thought I'd re-share some of my favourite things to do in this season.

• Write letters - as well as keeping things up with my American penpal, I'm writing to my Grandmother again.
• Get stuck into a good book.  I was so gripped by my latest one I'd gotten through 100 pages without realising the hour last night!
• Curl up in front of a nice fire.
• Get the board games out.  We were looking for some dice for one of Nico's lessons the other day and I realised how long it has been since we played - some are even unopened.
• Give yourself a manicure or pedicure.
• Catch up on your favourite boxsets.
• Have long skype sessions with far away friends and family.
• Get crafty - I have so many projects lined up, I don't know where to start.

Make It Monday - Draught Excluder

 This week I did a second project from the Fat Quarters book from Mum.

As winter is on it's way, it seemed appropriate to make this one. I used some red and navy scraps as it seemed fitting for the season.

I learned how to make boxed corners on this project and I love the finished product. Isabella thinks it's a great new toy so everyone is happy!

Weekly Wisdom

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The Saturday Update

This week flew by. It was our first full week of our new routine and just one more before we have holidays.

Isabella did a full and fun week at nursery. She's coughing less and eating more and missing her all day means we value our evenings together all the more.

Work was hectic and stressful but the course on Friday built me back up again.

The running has dropped off a bit but I cycled three days and helping Nico put the wood away got my heart rate up too.

I got going with crafts again working on three projects (completing two) as well as starting the journaling course.

I'm excited to get through the next work week as I have so many plans for the holidays but I'm aware they'll fly by too!

Encuentro Hispanico

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Today I was on a long training course for Spanish teachers. It's the first one I've been on for a while and I came back feeling totally energised and ready to go again.

First there was a talk on Spanish politics from a renowned professor. I was a bit worried but managed to follow and understand for the full hour.

Then came the first workshop on vocabulary training. It was just the right balance of talking and doing and of theory and practice.

Lunch was provided and various publishers were advertising their Spanish books and we were offered a 50% discount so I got a Spanish grammar book for my classes.

In order to get good value for money and get more involved in Spanish again, I joined the DSV (a committee for Spanish teachers in Germany). Their meeting took place after lunch and it was interesting to hear about the situation for Spanish in Bremen.

Then came the second workshop on mediation. This was really practical and interesting again and as with the morning workshop can be applied to Spanish or English.

Finally was an information session about exchanges with Spain and Mexico which is something our school is also interested in.

All in all, a great day!

Twins!

Huge congratulations to my sister who brought beautiful twin baby girls to the world today.

Freya and Amelia are beautiful and their big brother Lucas is very proud too.

I can't wait to meet them this Christmas.