Big girl pants are on! Join me!
Hello, everyone!
Well, it has been a LONG time since we gathered here. Actually a YEAR!!!
Life has been busy and going off in all sorts of directions.
Travelling
We have continued to have our #littleadventures which have taken us across the UK. Some have been connected to Nick’s football team Gillingham which has moved down into a different league. That has meant we had a new set of locations to explore. If they were quite a few miles away we have added a couple of days and made a short holiday. Some we will be revisiting.
We have also decided to take advantage of having no ties and building short stays in other places. We are definitely ‘short stayers’ preferring 3 nights away, often in budget hotels like Premier Inn which we can find in most areas. Folks are sometimes surprised that we go budget but there are good reasons that don’t include cost.
I suffer with anxiety and approaching a hotel/b&b/guest house that I have no idea about can really stress me out & spoil at least the first evening. If I’m not comfortable, it can ruin the holiday. With Premier Inn ( as with Ibis in France) I know what to expect. Every room has the same layout and colour scheme. They are very comfortable and hold no ‘what ifs’ for me. They are also excellent value and no this is not a sponsored post!!
Working life
Now that title is not correct because as regulars will know I’ve been retired for a good few years. However, you also know that I have to be busy. Since retiring I’ve been involved in blogging with children through 100 Word Challenge. I’ve also done lots of governance work, both of which have kept my interest in education clearly at the forefront. Once I hit 70 (more of that in another post!) I decided that I wanted to do something for myself. I set myself two projects – to learn to play the piano and to learn how to do calligraphy. More content for other posts but one has led me to journaling and mixed media art. I’m enjoying all of it but of course, my core passion for education is still there.
Listening Ear
So, make way for my latest education project. I offer a listening ear to anyone in any sphere of education. Just as it says on the tin it is a chance for a chat away from pressures. It has and continues to be, immensely successful which makes me really humble. I love to chat so this is a great way for me to offer some support. Again, more about the project later.
Why ‘Big Girl Pants’?
Although I am a seasoned blogger, getting back on this particular bike is scary. I want to try to include some thoughts on Listening Ear as well as sharing some of my usual nonsense. There may even be some more sensible education pieces. I hope to do some work on the front page but in the meantime, do explore what is here. Give me a shout-out on socail media and let’s get this next adventure started!
I loved every word of that! You go girl! I admire your adventuresome nature and adore filling the adventures. Please keep the blogs coming. Everyone needs Julia! X
Thank you so much for believing in me!
Well said & well done – keep doing what you do because you are fab x
Oh thank you so much. It is great to know you read it! It will encourage me to write some more
!
Hi Julia, I would be really interested in the listening ear. The rest of SLT who are all DSLs get regular supervision, but school business managers, who are often members of SLT (as they should be) are also privy to a lot of confidential/ difficult information do not have access to this. We also need someone to talk to as there is usually only one of us in a school, so no equal colleague to talk to.
I am lucky that I do have a network of SBMs, but maybe an area that you have not considered? It would be really good to talk to you!
Debbie x
I’d be delighted to set up a chat Debbie. Let me know when you’re available and I’ll send over a link.
Love it Julia! You are such an inspiration! Looking forward to grooving very soon 🤣🤣🤣🤣
That is so lovely of you to say so, Jean!