For the last number of weeks, you may have noticed grown men and women acting strangely around department stores and in major retail areas of towns up and down the country, shielding their eyes and crossing roads in order to avoid the inevitable but horrible ‘Back to School’ signs.
These people are teachers, like me, and we hate the sight of these signs as much as the children do, as it means our annual summer holiday is over. Not that we don’t like our jobs, but it makes one’s break seem all the shorter when the department stores tell us we’re ‘back to school’ almost as soon as the holidays begin. It seems the older you get, the less you are inclined to return to your local educational establishment, but primary school children still generally look forward to returning towards the end of the summer. This makes our job in primary schools easier in a way, as we usually get a few smiles on the first day back.
I believe the ability to speak is lost somewhere in the 13th year, when grunts come more naturally to the throat of your average student/ teenager. With more and more schools heading back in late August, it feels like the summer gets shorter every year. Indeed, even the half-time matches at Croke Park during the championship season serve as a reminder that it ‘won’t be long now’. However, I find the absence of a routine during the months of July and August a little difficult to adapt to, and the return to work in September is actually a kind of relief. If I didn’t have politics to keep me occupied, I probably would go a bit mad – but then again, I suppose I’m a little different.
The first day back is certainly an odd one, as children get a new teacher, teachers get a new bunch to look after, and principals, special needs assistants, caretakers and secretaries run around like headless chickens putting the glue between that most essential of educational relationships.
For any teacher, the class bond is crucial, but most teachers will remark that just teaching is challenging enough, especially as you get older but the children stay the same age. Dealing with children in 2008 is very different to dealing with them in 1978, but many of our teachers have managed to adapt to the change without a whole lot of fuss.
And with (hopefully) smiling faces, brand new uniforms, carrying new schoolbags stuffed with shiny fresh books and pencil cases, the children launch into another year of learning and fun. Teachers launch into the same journey with a little (or large) bunch of sponges to saturate with knowledge over the course of the year. And parents get used to the prospect of their children getting that little bit older.
It is remarkable every year to witness new parents dropping their children to school for the first time and then feeling a little bewildered when their darlings adapt to the new school without the slightest hint of a sniffle. Time was that the first day of school was a traumatic experience for parents and children alike. But now, with the advent of widely used crèches, pre-schools and child minding facilities, children are well used to dealing without their parents in unfamiliar circumstances. It is often the parents who feel a little disappointed that their children aren’t more upset to be leaving them.
Anyway, long live school – it’s great to be back. Only ten months to go till the summer holidays!
