A buzz phrases in teaching at the moment is to, ‘dissolve the screen’. With all lessons being delivered remotely, teachers are urged to forget the screen that divides us from our PJ’d students as they study at home. We are advised to engage warmly and imagine that the class is sitting there right in front…

A confession is coming up that will hardly improve your impression of me or disguise my advancing years. I tell you this for the sake of transparency. Back in the day I was a Bay City Roller fan and my bedroom walls were plastered with Eric Faulkner and Les McKeown posters. I did indeed Shang-Alang…

I have had moments of feeling a little wired this week – a little fluttery if you will. It is probably a combination of too much coffee and too much screen time. Odd that in a time when we are allowed to do less, I should find my heart racing too quickly. I usually overthink…

We all want to know when there will be some easement of Lockdown. I like the word ‘easement’ for it denotes both the right to use someone else’s land for a specific purpose, and/or the state or feeling of comfort or peace; I think both definitions can be applied to our longing to know when…

I was feeling smug that it was 4pm on Monday before I remembered that it was allegedly ‘Blue Monday’. ‘That was easy,’ I thought and kept myself busy until the end of the day feeling grateful that, in the context of what we have been through/have yet to face, Blue Monday seemed to be fading…

One of my worst failings (as I am constantly telling myself) is my strong critical voice. In my defence, I am as critical of myself as I am of other people, so I know how rubbish it feels to be on the receiving end of relentless negative feedback. I speak from experience when I share…

I am not sure about you, but when I am in the process of buying presents for other people, I have an annoying tendency of self-gifting myself at the same time. There is absolutely no excuse for this because I love shopping, so it is not as if I need to reward myself for doing…

You will be much relieved to hear that the only commitment I have made at the start of this New Year is NOT to set any resolutions. Those of you who know me will know that this really does go against the grain, for I am the person who usually has notebooks full of goals,…

After reeling from last night’s Boris bomb shell, when I hear people joking that they have seen Chris Rea reversing back down the motorway, I feel proud to be British; a little dark humour always gets us through. I take a moment out to diagnose myself with Cancel Christmas Sadness (CSS) for my symptoms seem…

Dreamers like me who dare to think beyond THE vaccination have a new festive parlour game – entertainment we would readily engage in should we be allowed to meet in groups for some pre-Christmas party shenanigans. In the absence of such permission, we content ourselves with some social media frivolity, questioning which Covid-related behaviours will…