Pipes

 The weather across the UK last Saturday was grey and grim, but I woke up at Rosie's and we set off into Tetbury for her hair cut and for us to do a little bit of shopping. It was a marvellously relaxed weekend. The freshness and all that green. Tonic to the soul. To top the weekend off I was treated to lamb roast and then off I set - hoping to get back easily but no such luck. Once home I was cooked dinner and tried to distract myself with TV and advent calendar opening. I slept fairly well and got up before the sun to get ready for my investigation interview.

It was a strange one, I met my union rep before and talked through the issues. Then at the investigation interview I didn't know the lady leading it but I did know the HR rep and the minute taker. I was honest and was able to express the chaos of the place. It felt more like the actual events of the day needed to be told in the wider context of the school and the lack of real leadership. I felt at times a bit disloyal, you're trained not to go against the Head but, as nice a man as he is, he didn't lead well and that left me vulnerable and others at the school. My union rep encouraged me to do this with some of his questions to establish context. And all this when in truth there was no obvious deviation from the school policy. Not a pleasant experience and one I am very glad is over. It took a little under an hour and at the end the HR lady saw us out and asked for a hug - she was so kind and I could tell she felt almost as uncomfortable in the process as I did, although she was of course very professional in the meeting. I remind myself everyday that you can't change the past, but I have time to wonder what I could have done differently - on that day and all the ones around it. I wasn't given much of a timeline, the report will be written and sent to the Governors. Then they decide if they take up the recommendations from the report - 3 options. No action at all. Recommendation for further training or support. Move to a disciplinary process. So more waiting but I'm confident this will all happen next week at the earliest. Although to her credit the lady leading the investigation has already sent the transcript of the meeting to me to check and I've sent it back with my edits just as fast. What I mainly hope is that I can talk to my new Headteacher sooner rather than later. 

In the spirit of - I have time - I woke up annoyingly early and so drove the girls to school. They took in the gifts for their favourite teachers and cards and a whole load of cardboard A is using for her art. So much nicer than lugging it all onto 2 buses in the rain. I did a bit of housekeeping and added to the box of stuff we're taking on our Christmas and New Year break away. Hannukah starts on Christmas day this year. That evening we all went out for an early dinner because BigA had booked us tickets to Dr Strangelove. Another lovely silver lining to this mess, I don't worry about being out past 9pm. We all enjoyed the food and the show, Dr Strangelove. It was silly and frightening to know that some of the lines were added for the authenticity of America's awaiting new government. The next day BigA and I set off to look around for a carpet for the hall having dumped the old one at the tip. It's odd that there is so much choice when really everything is almost all a shade of beige, I wonder what kind of novel 50 shades of it would be. Back to making dinner and watching the last episode of Wolf Hall. I do love an historic drama and I felt well done, sad there isn't more. I'd be keen to see the next 2 wives through their eyes.  

More painting done and a rather farcical moment when BigA screwed a screw into the water heating pipe, happily it wasn't too bad as he knew how to turn the water off and quickly bought necessary tools to fix it. Not too cold either so we survived without water or heat. I missed the majority of the drama as I'd set off to have lunch with Debi to celebrate her birthday. The painting is now almost done, some edges to do and tidy up bits where despite the masking tape I've managed to splatter green onto the magnolia. I'm happy with it, I think it looks much more sophisticated than before. I would quite like to get lots of art and pictures of our times overseas up on the walls. That could take some time and persuading of BigA. 

Last night J and E arrived and it was so lovely to see them and know we have a whole weekend together. I've also got everything ready for our Christmas Monday (to be had on Monday!) where we will open the presents we have and have a full Christmas dinner with trifle for afters, with Christmas crackers and maybe even some party games. The girls have very much been looking forward to it and have already declared it is to remain a tradition for the years ahead. This, as I'm sure you can imagine, made me feel very happy.