Lack a Day, Lack of Time

With studies and work experience and work and voluntary, there just hasn't been enough time to watch TV let alone have much of a social life :(

Today I broke away from the mould, and went for drinks at the farewell party of a fellow trainee (but different uni) with a bunch of teachers at The Ferry Boat Inn. With a relaxing candlelit atmosphere in a cosy corner, great company, and yummy pub food (though a little expensive), it was an enjoyable evening. Shame I had to leave early to catch Halfords before it closed; the bike's been squeaking backwards.

Earlier in the day, I went to visit a local children's centre which opened a few years back. It's equipped with a wide range of resources, excellent facilities, loads of space, three staff to thirty children, up-to-date paperwork, good relationship with parents... but, if I had kids, I wouldn't sent them there. Fine, it's early years, it's great children are allowed to make their own choices and given lots of opportunities to express themselves. However, there was a noticeable lack of boundaries and ground rules, the children (not all) were chaotic. Behaviour management was inadequate. I was observing a class of 3-4 year olds. Come on, even 2 year olds (in HK) can line up and push their chairs in. During fire practice, teachers could not keep track of all the children. Some children were running off somewhere else in the commotion, and in the congregation area all classes were all sort of intermingled in a large crowd. Register check involved shouting across each other and staring into the combined masses to look for each child. It was pretty shocking, the practitioners are just asking to be sued.

Anyway, it'll be the last week of work experience at the primary school. Feeling a bit down about it. It's going to be weird not going in everyday.