The last of the blonde bombshells

Well as promised I might in yesterday’s blog I have had a productive day of packing and cleaning and washing so that when I return next week to do the move there will be a lot less to do. As most of my belongings are now in boxes dotted around the house I really feel that the move is imminent and I’m getting really excited about the prospect of returning to halls and, more importantly getting a new flat.

For those of you who have never lived in a university halls of residence the basic premise is that each block will have a designated person to look after them and, ahem, keep an eye on them. I’ve done this for two years previously so I think I know what I’m doing. Although this new hall (imaginatively titled New Hall) will have 700 students and that’s, well, that’s an awful lot.

It’s actually a very nice feeling to be going to something new but with the confidence that I know how to do the job. When I was first a sub warden I worried about what to say to students and how to help them and what would happen when the ‘duty mobile’ rang in the middle of the night. Nowadays I feel like I can handle it, although I’m sure I’ll still have a little worry on my first duty evening.

The pay off is that I really like the idea of it being a brand new hall, ready to set its own traditions and develop its own identity, with a little help from those that know…that’s us, allegedly. I also really like the first day when all of the fresh-faced students arrive, looking excited but a bit nervous. I can remember when I landed on Leicester for the first time and how I felt. Looking back it’s amazing to think what that day was the start of and I hope that it’s the start of great things for all the students arriving at New Hall this year, actually I really do. They just better behave….

The more observant amongst you will realise that the university term doesn’t start for a few weeks and so why all this hurry to get packed and moved? Well I have to spend two weeks in a primary school as a part of my secondary PGCE so as of Monday I will be at a primary school in North Staffordshire learning about primary education and the transition between primary and secondary schools. Since last time I spent any time with primary students one of them tied my shoelaces together, next week could be very interesting indeed.

For those of you who haven’t seen me for a while you might have been surprised to read I am a blondie now. Since premature grey seems to afflict my family I have decided to head it off at the pass and have had highlights for a while. Yesterday, though I went blonder than I have for a while and I really like it! I realised last night that the colour is very similar to my mum’s. Not sure that I could get her into my salon for a colour match, but it does make a change for me to have the same colour hair as one of my parents…..make of that what you will!