Saturday 26 March 2011

What a day. I got up early and ended up being late getting to an industrial estate in Eastleigh to join an NUT coach to London. I was a bit stressed by having cycled on my hybrid at time trial effort to get there, then was not sure where the coach was, so abandoned my bike for R to pick up later and waved down a passing coach, which was the right one. On arrival in London we got on a ferry to take us for free to the end of the march, and then spent a while snaking up the outside past the assorted people there before finding the NUT. There were loads and loads of NUT people there, marching alongside the NASUWT, another teacher union. There were an unbelievable assortment of people - A Ghurka with medals amongst a gang of similar and their wives, all tiny and smiley, and this one chap shouting alleluia all the time. There were librarians against cuts, nurses, even physiotherapists, for heavens sakes, and it takes a lot to get them riled. Firefighters, Unison people who work for councils, Prison officers, court workers, the Boiler makers, goodness knows who else, all manner of people from every nook and cranny of the UK. Half a million people, giving up their Saturday and some of them forking out a lot of cash to get to London. Unbelievable. It was my first big march and I had a fantastic day of solidarity and unity, saw no violence ( the protesters causing trouble were not on the main march, but elsewhere) and took 4 hours to walk about 1.5 miles. It wasn't exactly one for getting the heart rate up, ( I had done that on my race to Eastleigh in the morning) but I was very glad to be there and think this is the start of something bigger, of ordinary people fighting for basic public services to be available, for the people who need those services most - the poor, the young and the elderly - they are the people who need schools, health care and libraries. After all the walking, we sneaked in and had a cuppa in a cafe and then strolled back to get the coach back - luckily for me I found a different coach heading back to Southampton. There were a lot of young people on the march, young teachers, which is encouraging. The day was well organised, the police were smiley and polite and so were the stewards and to everyone I asked to come with me who didn't - you missed a great day which I am glad I didn't miss. Next time, come with me! Even if it is your birthday.

Yesterday at work was great, I had my lovely class back, as my student has finished her placement with flying colours. I loved having her and learned a lot from the experience, but it was nice to just faff around after school on my own, tidying up and so on and catching up on little things that need doing. I am very fired up about school at the moment, as I have been offered and accepted a new post there which will mean more responsibility and a leadership role. We have a great team and a lot of potential for growth and improvement, so my job will be to nurture that into reality among the youngest classes. Watch your back, Michael Gove, I am telling you, I am after your job.

One of my favourite placards of the day was a picture of Garfield with the slogan Eat more lasagne. Some had pictures of Cameron planted inelegantly on the end of large pink tubes. Another favourite on the coach home was the sign that said 'Let this be a sign'. See what they did there? The girls were fascinated this morning by my plan of the day, hence the breakneck cycle to get there, with them asking me so many questions as I tried to escape. They watched it on the news when I got home and were asking good questions about it all. I am delighted to be developing their political awareness and hope they develop their own opinions which they follow through with actions, which are about the poor, the marginalised, the outcast. I don't want to be growing pew fodder who sit and nod inside churches. Let's hope today helped in that regard. Amen.

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