Go ahead baby, go ahead, go ahead and light up the town! (The Rolling Stones)

Surprisingly, after 31 years of teaching and management positions, I find myself as a dean in charge of a year group.

Yeah, I know, I know (as Graham Norton would say). Woah Nelly - what happened?

Well the current year dean has resigned, leaving four weeks next term that need filling. I agreed to do it. Simple huh?

Well, not really. You see the deaning structure at school is horizontal, so I will be Year 12 Dean for next term: effectively four weeks until the seniors go on exam leave. "Yeah - so?" I hear you (who don't read my blog regularly) ask.

I like vertical, remember? Not horizontal. I would be happy(ier) with a vertical House Dean position but not horizontal. So a dilly of a pickle that I can handle for a term but not longer than that.

Why has it taken 31 years to get into a year Dean position?

It hasn't really been deliberate - rather than a pastoral care route, I moved into English department management, Boarding School management, and then senior management. Some would say being Senior Housemaster at Mt. Albert Grammar's School House was very pastoral and they would be right but looking after the hundred boys' in a hostel was not horizontal, or restricted in any way.

I was responsible for their academic progress, their day to day living and their discipline. It was an autonomous role that I really enjoyed. Autonomous in the sense that I was left alone to get on with it.

I'm hoping I can say the same by the end of next term. Certainly, being responsible for 50 Year 12 girls will provide some comparisons.

The other thing about it, is that some reinvention is never a bad thing for me. I've been following my bliss with teaching since I was 12 years old and being on that pathway has lead to some amazing places so far, so, I trust in my instincts that this is a worthwhile diversion.

Time will tell.

Ring, ring goes the bell, the cook in the lunch room's ready to sell (Chuck Berry)

I recently gave a presentation that had me as the topic. More specifically - what made me so special?

New Zealanders don't generally like blowing their own trumpet but this was a rare opportunity to sell myself.

I did some research and along the way I came up with some groovy pictures from the past that cried out for inclusion on the blogosphere.

Here are the first lot - photos that appeared in Mt Albert Grammar's Albertian magazine way back in the mid to late 1990s when I was Senior Housemaster at School House. When I was a student at M.A.G.S. the School House was a really mysterious place ruled by Ron Hemus and hirsute senior boys who were gods (of sport in particular).

It was a terrific experience being allowed into that arcane boarding school world. It dovetailed with a resurgence in fortunes for football in the school. I'd been in the 1975 team that won the Auckland competition and it had been a barren time since then until Kevin Fallon brought talent into the team - boys who were mostly boarders, drawn to the school by Kevin's reputation and chutzpah.

A special time.

What a front row! Some amazingly talented men and women!



Jacky is between me and Harry.