There's a photo that I wish I could show you. It captures perfectly the essence of a rather fantastic evening. Sadly, it's out of blog bounds, so I'll have to set the scene for you instead.
There were a few clues: a prematurely empty school car park, several limousines parked up on my route home. It could only mean one thing - our school's prom night.
Proms have been around in this part of the world for a few years now, but, like the students, this was my first. Actually, the last Y11 leaving event that I attended (several years ago) was a disco in the function room of a local sports and social club, so things have changed a bit!
Our prom was held in the illustrious surroundings of the Cutler's Hall, a magnificent building complete with a rather grand staircase up to an equally grand hall. Ideal for arriving in style and showing off fabulous prom dresses and smart suits, also ideal for the process of eating, not drinking (the students are only 16) and making merry.
Actually the eating part didn't live up to the general splendour of the surroundings: the food was OK, but nothing special, which at the best part of £30 a head was a little disappointing.
The students were fantastic though, it's hard to describe the sheer exuberance of the evening. Some of the boys were doing the conga around the room before the dancing even started; by the time the DJ started playing a selection of surprisingly old songs there was a fair amount of madness on the dance floor.
It was all good-natured silliness though, we were all on our best behaviour. Which might explain how I resisted the almost overwhelming temptation to misbehave when the official photographer arranged the teachers into a carefully posed group for a photo. There was something about the way they grouped us, with the men in the front row asked to kneel on one knee with a hand resting proudly on the other, that was a bit, well, Monty Python. It was all I could do to stop myself from breaking into a chorus of "I'm a Lumberjack", I don't know how I resisted it.
Anyway, back to my photo, the one I can't really show you. The song being played was from Dirty Dancing and the students were most definitely having the time of their lives. One of the lads is being held up by the others, flying above them in the pose made famous by Jennifer Grey. In the foreground are some of the girls from my form, looking fantastic in their amazing prom dresses, laughing and smiling and enjoying the moment.
It was a magic moment that encapsulated the spirit of the evening for me. The time of their lives? You bet.
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Having the time of their lives
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Want
Yes, I can see that even if anything like this ever gets manufactured, there are still a whole lot of potential problems. But, hey, it's a balmy summer's evening, I can dream if I want to. Even if it is unlikely that the day when I stop
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Back from the Blogdead
Blimey has it been that long since I wrote a *proper* post? Ahem.
Anyway, hellooo!
June is over, which means my *cough* part time paper round is finished (although this year I get a bonus extra round, starting next week, but enough of that kind of talk), so I can actually blog again.
Actually, my June was mostly splendid, featuring three concerts, two gigs and a wheely good talk (all courtesy of the Broomhill Festival), numerous opportunities to use my outdoor office, many Black Cat cuddles (he's still going remarkably strong, bless him), some brilliant days helping to run my school's team maths challenge at various primary schools, a trip to darkest Leeds to enjoy some dance (Rambert style) and some general eating, drinking and making merry.
In other news, I think that just about every student in Year 9 now knows my TLC alias. Mind you, a few more posts like this and I might manage to bore them (and you) into submission...
And finally... weird fact of the day: I seem to attract far more visitors to this blog when I don't post anything than when I do (mind you, maybe that was just down to Year 9 checking in). However I'll not let that stop me. Let the rattling on commence...
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Today's Tweets
- 20:33 Hmm. Back garden full of swirly smoke, resembles a Victorian London movie set, all we need now is an ominous figure in frock coat & top hat. #
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Today's Tweets
- 23:54 RT @jamesclay: Here is the website for large Dutch Dept Store Chain. Don't click: just wait and watch... producten.hema.nl (genius!) #
Monday, 15 June 2009
Today's Tweets
- 22:15 I am discovered. 3 of my students have informed me that they know my *secret* name. Now I'm under pressure to say something interesting... #
Monday, 8 June 2009
Today's Tweets
- 21:49 Ton of work to do, but I'm browsing for a new phone (no, not an iphone). All the ones on current network are bit underwhelming for the £££. #
