Snow Saga - ongoing!

2.55pm and here I am at home.  Joy to the wall!  (what a weird thing to write - am guessing I had meant to write Joy to the world!!  maybe it was a subconscious link to hole in the wall???)

woke this morning to more snow on the ground.  it has never thawed completely but there was definitely an extra inch or two this morning.  I was veering on the side of getting the train but the colleague I was supposed to be taking said she would drive.  So she picked me up but it was a little hairy driving with it still snowing but she did great driving.

We got into school and there had definitely been more snow in Didcot.  There was a ring around the staffrooms to count the number of teachers in.  Had got a txt on the journey in from head of KS1 to say she had tried but failed to make it away from her house.  Spoke to a KS2 teacher who had had a narrow escape in the car on the way in and was most shook up.  It continued snowing quite a bit during the morning.  We managed the morning relatively normal (or at least the new normal with an extended play and half inside and half out).  I even managed to teach some pretty good lessons - always easier when there are fewer in - I had six away and maths and phonics groups seemed pretty small.

I was excited at the start of lunch (in new normal style, children in classroom) to be told by Foundation Stage leader that they were holding a staff meeting in the junior staffroom at 12.10.  So over we went and I have to say I loved the drama of it all.   I do ever so much love things when they're out of the ordinary and this is high class entertainment for me :-)  It was announced by head of foundation stage (one of only two SLT members in the school; head had gone to hospital with daughter who had gone into labour, deputy head never made it) that the school was staying open till 3pm but children were able to be collected from 1pm - notices were going on website and on the special hotline.  She had an amazing contingency plan working out which staff could get home when.  There was a first round off staff leaving at 1pm as well with TAs etc covering and then as more children went and classes got amalgamated there was another round of teachers to leave and so on.  I'm still so excited just thinking about the organisation now!!

So, at one o'clock returned to the classroom and there were three parents already there!  At our end of year 2 we had one of the year 1 classes between us and I had the two class lists up on the board ready to highlight when children left.  The children in my classroom were very chilled.  We had a little circle time at the beginning to get them calm (very good idea I think) and then I talked about calm activities that could be done in the classroom.  Mine was the quiet one and 2D was the 'noisy' one, I did well there!  I just floated about really, changed reading books, ticked children off as they left.  I was told I could leave at 1.45 with colleague while 3 TAs covered our classes - my class was down to 8 at that point!  We got home fine and since being home it has now been snowing a little!!!!!  Think I am going to go out for a walk now :-)

My facebook status: Am I the only person left who is still so excited by the snow? Love it :-)

Update: I did indeed go out for a walk.  I decided to head down out the end of the road past the river and I stopped to take pictures.  

While snapping away about half a dozen ducks came up the bank quacking away.  They guilt tripped me into returning to the house to get bread.


  But.. the only bread I had was in the freezer.  I think that's what is called irony - trying to save the ducks from the snow by feeding frozen bread!  I did my best though and loads more ducks came out.  There were two big ones (geese I think) that were rather like bullies and I didnt want to feed them, but they came right up close to me and I did yelp out at one point!!  

I fed them quite a bit but still held my ground often enough that my wellie boot did get pecked on a few occasions.  I met a lady from the flats who came out with a large gone off loaf just as I was running out so that worked out well.