All children start their school careers with sparkling imaginations, fertile minds and a willingness to take risks with what they think (Ken Robinson)

 

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Start me up (The Rolling Stones)

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New starts.

I've just started a new job - fixed term for this year at Hastings' Boys' High School. Teaching English. It was a good start on Monday, but aside from a fire alarm evacuating the school during my first period, nothing really dramatic happened. It was just a new start in a new job.

I do remember a few new starts extremely vividly.

First day at Royal Oak Primary in 1962.

First day at Mt Albert Grammar in 1971.

The first day in my first job at New Plymouth Boys' in 1983. I smiled so much and shook so many hands, I hurt.

Interestingly, after that, I don't really remember starting new jobs apart from my last one at OneSchool Global in 2017 when I got the day wrong!

I'm much more able to remember interviews for jobs. 

The phone call from Tom Rider (New Plymouth Boys') in 1982; The Colin Prentice interview (Macleans); the phone call with Aileen Ambler (Waimea); the MAGS one with Hensman and Taylor; Cambridge High with the panel - I even remember some of Alison's questions and my responses....and so on. In fact I remember them all.

But not the actual first day on the job. So, I don't get anxious or nervous about starting afresh. When I get into the car to drive to the school I just feel a lightness, because I know the hard bit - winning the job - is over.

Same deal this week.

One day at a time is good for you (John Lennon)

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New starts are just around the corner.

Term 2 begins tomorrow and we'll be without a couple of key staff members for a while this term. That means employing relievers for some time before help arrives.

One of those staff members will be starting her new job tomorrow and that's often an unsettling time.

Around week 4 of this approaching term we'll be back to near full strength with the introduction of two new staff members.

Again, an unsettling time for them and the campus as they and we adjust.

I have just opened up George Couros' newsletter in my emails and he has this to say:

Regret often comes in the things that you don't do.  

Change, even positive change, can be incredibly hard, but focusing on that "better" one day at a time can lead to something truly great. 

The only way to make the future better is by making the most out of the present moment.

That's a great thought to start the new term with and I agree with him - one day at a time, and focusing on that day to get the most out of it are the ways forward for those staff members who have left or are arriving and for us at the campus dealing with the gap.