'Twas the Day Before the Holidays

A funny and real look at the last weeks before the Christmas holidays.

T’was the day before the holidays when all through the halls.
Not a creature was stirring, no last minute brawls.
The reports all written, the data all saved.
In hopes that students, would be well behaved.
The children all bustled down the corridors with glee.
The teachers all thinking, soon, that will be me.
The thoughts of early finish and the sound of the bell.
Continue to get us through that last day hell.
When on with the DVD and the class start to settle.
So you can think, of putting on the kettle.
Your caffeine consumption has risen this week.
As you know that lesson, could do with a tweak.
But you’ve earned your two weeks, as the nights have drawn in.
Getting in the car, the calm before the din.
The meetings, the insets, the same old, same old.
Have you tried lollipop sticks? They’re great I’m told.
The duties, the clubs and the endless exams.
Not to mention, that long queue to print and scan.
To the lost Saturdays and the gained free-time.
To those who feel, that they’re past their prime.
To your families and to the times they listened.
As they comforted you, as your tears glistened.
That child whose got to you, the one you can’t shake.
As you’ve questioned, if  you’ve got what it takes.
So to all you teachers out there, in hope of the end.
Merry Christmas, to January. When we do it all again.

The author

Hannah Frances

Hannah qualified as a History teacher in 2014 from the University of Roehampton. She has taught widely across the Humanities subjects and has held additional whole school responsibility. She worked in London for four years, before moving back to Nottingham at the start of September 2017. She has blogged for #WomenEd and is involved in various communities for her subject, aspiring Middle Leaders and the development of trainee teachers. She is involved in the Legacy 110 Project and is a mentor at the University of Nottingham where she started her Masters in Education in September. She is interested in development of the curriculum, training teachers and diversity in education.