Hi there loyal readers,
On Monday I had an interview for a job in a special needs school in Ealing, not far from where I used to live in Hanger Lane. I got the job so I am gainfully employed, at least for the next 3 weeks, and probably a little longer - until the Easter break in 5 weeks. The class teacher is ill, hence the uncertain time frame - they aren't sure when he'll be fit to return. I am the 7th reliever the class has had in the last 5 weeks, and the first one to last a week! So understandably the class is quite unsettled.
Its a class of 8 year 5/6 students (9/10 yr olds) who are pretty full on, but there are 2 fantastic teacher aides and the staff as a whole, and the 2 other senior teachers in particular, are very friendly and supportive. I am being really strict, and the kids are beginning to realise that I mean what I say and that I will be around for a while , so they can't get away with what they have been up to in the last few weeks, which is basically running riot in the hallways and playing on the computer, as far as I can make out! I have caused a few tears and drama-queen behaviour by saying 'no' a few times in the last week, but hopefully as they get used to me they will become more manageable. Probably just in time for their teacher to return and take over!
Anyway, its good to be working, but I was enjoying the extended holiday! Richie is still job hunting - he has decided to keep looking for a job in town, rather than accept the job out in Amersham, as it is quite a trek out of town.
This week we've been for curry in Brick Lane with my brother Alex (Zander) and his girlfriend Hollaye, I've been knitting in the pub with the knitting crew, and last night we hung out with my ex-NAS friends in Kensal Green. Strangely, one of the staff at the school I am working in also used to work at the NAS when I was there, so it was nice to see a familiar face.
We are about to meet Bruce to find out how Mt Snowdon was and see some exhibition at Somerset House, and then I feel pizza and a movie coming on......
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Half Term
This week has been half term so there hasn't been any teaching work for me, which has been OK, as I have 
been sick! Nothing major, but good to be able to just lax out without thinking about all the work I should be doing. I have paid 30p for one lemon and am definitely on the mend, ready for a job interview tomorrow.
We have decide to wait until Richie has a job before I look for something permanent, especially as teaching jobs starting in Sept (beginning of school year) won't be advertised until after Easter. The problem with both of us job hunting is that we could easily end up with jobs on opposite sides of London, which would be no fun from a commuting perspective. So once we know where we'll be living, I can concentrate in looking in that area. It seems that there is plenty of daily supply for mainstream teaching, and the special needs is more long term/interview based so I shall have to see how the next couple of weeks goes and perhaps do a mixture of the two to get some moolah flowing in.
We never made it to the Natural History Museum the other day - the queue to get in was massive - and we thought better to wait til after the half term to see the dinosaurs! We ended up going to the V and A, seeing some cool plaster casts of ancient treasures (somehow it is more amazing that they managed to make plaster casts of
these huge columns etc than if they were the real columns stolen from Rome) and architecture exhibits.
Yesterday was so sunny and warm - Spring is definitely coming! We took the bus to Hyde Park and wandered along the Serpentine. Loads of people out picnicing, skating, horseriding, boating on the lake. It was so lovely and the sky was so blue. We mooched about, looked at the Albert memorial, the Wellington Arch and Buckingham Palace. We wanted to spend the entire day outside to make the most of the sunshine. Not that the weather has been that bad since the snow ended, but looking at the photos of beautiful blueness in NZ just before we left - it has been quite grey here in comparison. The spring bulbs are well on their way so there will be d
affs around soon, and then summer is just around the corner! The squirrels were out in force at Hyde Park - I know the grey ones are evil invaders- but still, they are cute.....
My cousin Bruce is a total legend - or maybe he is just crazy - he has gone off camping this weekend to Mt Snowdon. I hope the forecast snow didn't arrive!
been sick! Nothing major, but good to be able to just lax out without thinking about all the work I should be doing. I have paid 30p for one lemon and am definitely on the mend, ready for a job interview tomorrow.We have decide to wait until Richie has a job before I look for something permanent, especially as teaching jobs starting in Sept (beginning of school year) won't be advertised until after Easter. The problem with both of us job hunting is that we could easily end up with jobs on opposite sides of London, which would be no fun from a commuting perspective. So once we know where we'll be living, I can concentrate in looking in that area. It seems that there is plenty of daily supply for mainstream teaching, and the special needs is more long term/interview based so I shall have to see how the next couple of weeks goes and perhaps do a mixture of the two to get some moolah flowing in.
We never made it to the Natural History Museum the other day - the queue to get in was massive - and we thought better to wait til after the half term to see the dinosaurs! We ended up going to the V and A, seeing some cool plaster casts of ancient treasures (somehow it is more amazing that they managed to make plaster casts of
these huge columns etc than if they were the real columns stolen from Rome) and architecture exhibits.Yesterday was so sunny and warm - Spring is definitely coming! We took the bus to Hyde Park and wandered along the Serpentine. Loads of people out picnicing, skating, horseriding, boating on the lake. It was so lovely and the sky was so blue. We mooched about, looked at the Albert memorial, the Wellington Arch and Buckingham Palace. We wanted to spend the entire day outside to make the most of the sunshine. Not that the weather has been that bad since the snow ended, but looking at the photos of beautiful blueness in NZ just before we left - it has been quite grey here in comparison. The spring bulbs are well on their way so there will be d
affs around soon, and then summer is just around the corner! The squirrels were out in force at Hyde Park - I know the grey ones are evil invaders- but still, they are cute.....My cousin Bruce is a total legend - or maybe he is just crazy - he has gone off camping this weekend to Mt Snowdon. I hope the forecast snow didn't arrive!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Great Job Hunt
Life is now getting into a routine of job-hunting in the morning and sightseeing in the afternoon with a liberal amount of meeting up with Steph's friends from when she was last here.
I've found a few good job boards, www.reed.co.uk and www.cv-library.co.uk which are proving quite a few leads. CV Library is particularly good, I get a call every day or two out of the blue from some agent with some opportunity.
This morning it was regarding a job with a company that had uplifted their entire development team from somewhere in New Zealand and relocated them to Amersham, which is at the western end of the Metropolitan Line. From what I understand they are developing technology to deploy banking services to the developing world - bank branch in a shipping container sort of thing.
Yesterday, just after 2pm, we had just finished lunch on the Southbank with Flair, a friend of Steph's, and got a callback about a job. They were keen to interview me so we set up an interview at 4pm. I rushed to an internet cafe to have a last minute look over the companies website (www.lshift.net). The interview went fairly well. It's a small company run by developers, so not much management overhead, and lots of opportunity to take responsibility for projects. Will find out in a few days if I get thought to the next stage.
Agents can be a bit funny over here. One told me he had a telephone interview set up for last Monday. He hadn't sent any information about the company through on Friday, so I asked for their name and website so I could at least have a look at that, it turns out their website was down and I didn't get a company name. I didn't get any calls on Monday and haven't heard back from him. I called up another agent who wanted me to get together quite a bit of information so he could decide whether
to put me forward. It sounded a bit like a job another agent was putting me forward for so I asked whether it was for this company, he would "neither confirm or deny", because he gets a lot of calls from other agents pretending to be candidates to find jobs to advertise. I guess it's a dog eat dog world in the high stakes game of IT recruitment.
This afternoon we are off to the National History Museum to meet up with some of Steph's family. They have dinosaurs and other cool things there.
I've found a few good job boards, www.reed.co.uk and www.cv-library.co.uk which are proving quite a few leads. CV Library is particularly good, I get a call every day or two out of the blue from some agent with some opportunity.
This morning it was regarding a job with a company that had uplifted their entire development team from somewhere in New Zealand and relocated them to Amersham, which is at the western end of the Metropolitan Line. From what I understand they are developing technology to deploy banking services to the developing world - bank branch in a shipping container sort of thing.Yesterday, just after 2pm, we had just finished lunch on the Southbank with Flair, a friend of Steph's, and got a callback about a job. They were keen to interview me so we set up an interview at 4pm. I rushed to an internet cafe to have a last minute look over the companies website (www.lshift.net). The interview went fairly well. It's a small company run by developers, so not much management overhead, and lots of opportunity to take responsibility for projects. Will find out in a few days if I get thought to the next stage.
Agents can be a bit funny over here. One told me he had a telephone interview set up for last Monday. He hadn't sent any information about the company through on Friday, so I asked for their name and website so I could at least have a look at that, it turns out their website was down and I didn't get a company name. I didn't get any calls on Monday and haven't heard back from him. I called up another agent who wanted me to get together quite a bit of information so he could decide whether
to put me forward. It sounded a bit like a job another agent was putting me forward for so I asked whether it was for this company, he would "neither confirm or deny", because he gets a lot of calls from other agents pretending to be candidates to find jobs to advertise. I guess it's a dog eat dog world in the high stakes game of IT recruitment.This afternoon we are off to the National History Museum to meet up with some of Steph's family. They have dinosaurs and other cool things there.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sightseeing
As well as the great job hunt, we have been managing to do a few of the sights (the free ones only at this point!) and we have taken in such delights as Greenwich park (where there was still snow, a week after the big snowfall), the Science Museum and a little of the Natural History Museum (we were chased out of there by all the school children on trips). We went to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery (where I gatecrashed a school trip and listened to the guide talk about Van Gogh's Sunflowers). and have generally wandered around London, meeting up with friends and taking in some of the sights.
On Saturday we went to Borough Market, had the yummiest vege-halloumi burger and ate lots of cheese from the taster boards. Saw the most amazing array of mushrooms aswell. Alex bought a rabbit (to stew, not the fluffy alive kind), which he then had to carry around all day. We've spent the weekend relaxing, checking out the local pub and seeing people. This week holds more of the same, still have loads of people to see, and of course check out more of London's sights. So far the place is treating us well, its cold outside but the daffodils are starting to appear and the houses are warm and cosy - bliss!
LONDON - The Job Hunt Begins
We arrived in London last Sunday and went out in Camden to meet my 'little' brother Alex and my cousin Bruce. It was pouring with rain and COLD. But who cares when you are in a cosy pub right? Our cash had already run out (Yep, you just open your wallet and it all flies away....) but we luckily still have English credit cards....
Steph spent Monday hanging out with Karen at her special school - I used to work with her at the National Autistic Society in London, and it was great to see her and also see what kind of work she is doing now. Tuesday night we went over to Kate's place in Kensal Rise, where Steph used to live, and met her 2 year old daughter Nell. Had a lovely evening, catching us with old friends!
On Wednesday I had my induction at the teaching agency, and by Thursday I was being inundated with calls, despite saying I wanted to wait until half term was over before starting. (It is half term now, so there were only two teaching days left) Anyway I gave in and had a days teaching on Friday at a special needs school in Bermondsey (Sth London) - it took an hour to get there and I am already sick of the tube! But good to know that next week I'll have my first pay check and hopefully it is a sign that in a week I'll have plenty of work to keep us afloat!
Richie spent the week being an industrious job hunter - there does seem to be work out there despite the economic doom and gloom. He's got a couple of interviews lined up so we shall see how it goes. The agents seem so protective of their clients, it is a strange situation when you haven't really dealt with agencies before.
Steph spent Monday hanging out with Karen at her special school - I used to work with her at the National Autistic Society in London, and it was great to see her and also see what kind of work she is doing now. Tuesday night we went over to Kate's place in Kensal Rise, where Steph used to live, and met her 2 year old daughter Nell. Had a lovely evening, catching us with old friends!
On Wednesday I had my induction at the teaching agency, and by Thursday I was being inundated with calls, despite saying I wanted to wait until half term was over before starting. (It is half term now, so there were only two teaching days left) Anyway I gave in and had a days teaching on Friday at a special needs school in Bermondsey (Sth London) - it took an hour to get there and I am already sick of the tube! But good to know that next week I'll have my first pay check and hopefully it is a sign that in a week I'll have plenty of work to keep us afloat!
Richie spent the week being an industrious job hunter - there does seem to be work out there despite the economic doom and gloom. He's got a couple of interviews lined up so we shall see how it goes. The agents seem so protective of their clients, it is a strange situation when you haven't really dealt with agencies before.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Arrival and Snow!
We arrived on Saturday after a long, but uneventful trip and were met at the new flash Heathrow terminal by my cousin Alec and the news that snow was forecast for Sunday. We had a pretty lazy day with Al and his gf Claire, wandering around Shoreham and looking at the houseboats. It felt pretty cold!On Sunday we spent most of the afternoon in a local pub, eating roast dinner and drinking pear cider. Aunt Val and my cousin Bruce came to Portslade so we spent a great afternoon catching up with them. The snow was forecast to arrive at 3pm, and it arrived about then.
Monday morning was eerily quiet and snow was falling thickly. Everyone in the flat here took the day off ( buses, trains etc were all cancelled) and we went out to play in the snow! We walked to the beach, built a snowman on the beach, had a fry up for breaky and threw snowballs at each other.
After lunch Al, Simon, richie and I went walking on the South Downs.We walked for a couple of miles up to a Pub which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Probably because you could only see about 100 metres in front of you! There were loads of people out with their sledges and snowboards. It was choice!
Now it is Tuesday morning and the snow is beginning to melt. People are going to work today. There is more snow forecast for later in the week so we shall see what happens...
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