shaun...

seems to have moved over to facebook for the meantime!

my classroom

School starts in ten days. I keep on thinking about my first lesson, when it looks like I'll have a Year 9 top set. I wonder what it will feel like to turn the key and open up my classroom for the very first time.

my cubicle

The six weeks of Teach First summer are almost up. During one of our meetings this week, we were shown the clip below. I don't really know quite what to make of it, as my experience of working in an office was generally good, plus Teach First has some very close business partnerships. But the video did have us singing along quite merrily, as we simultaneously recalled all the wonderful reasons why we are going into tough schools, but also wondering what the heck we have got ourselves in for. There will be days at school when the Cubicle is much more appealing, but actually, it's those days that are the reasons why we're doing this in the first place.

canterbury

Barbecues at the pond. Ducklings. Bright summer days. Walking from the Halls to Teach First base on campus. Canterbury Cathedral towering overhead. The beautiful university grounds. Learning how to teach. Meeting pupils that have been transformed by Teach First teachers. Planning creative lessons. Inspirational morning meetings. Nicky Blair, Tony's son and fellow Teach Firster. Working 14 hour days. Listening to Brett, our CEO/founder/idol. Watching presentations from last year's cohort. Participating in a Dragon's Den event with 700 people. Free food! Incredible, almost tangible, esprit de corps.

Despite the 6am wake-ups, I jump excited out of bed everyday.

tongue twister

Q: What's the difference between Canterbury Christ Church University in Canterbury, and the University of Canterbury in Christchurch?

A: It would seem very little from the names, but while the former is Teach First base-camp for the next three weeks, the latter is actually one of the largest universities in New Zealand, 11,000 miles away!

This past weekend we were bused en mass here to summery Canterbury, near the coast in England. It's very picturesque and we do get odd glimpses of the beautiful city, despite still being very much in the Teach First bubble.

I happened to be near the Cathedral soon after we arrived, and was amazed to see 650 bishops from around the world (here for the Lambeth Conference) - together with a large media following - strolling through the cobble-stoned lanes.

year seven

This was to be my first ever lesson in school, thankfully in a different area miles away from where I'll be in September. A top set of year sevens had been primed for a group of Teach Firsters, who were coming into school for the day. It was our time to be let loose, to experiment, to finally take the teaching reins that will guide, pull, or possibly drag us through these next two years.

I can't imagine what the eleven-year-olds were thinking, with us randoms being shuttled in to teach them for the day, then being whisked back off to Teach First base in central London. Their facial expressions were understandably inquisitive.

While previous experience teaching and leading is invaluable at Teach First, I only this week realised that teaching in a secondary school is a completely different ball game. One that requires some highly-skilled professionals to be played well.

school's almost out for summer

Our team of five has spent this second week of Summer Institute in the school that is going to become part of our lives. The kids swamped us at every opportunity. 'Are you new Sir?' 'Are you new Miss?' 'What are you teaching, what are you teaching?'

One kid said I speak strange (Kiwi accent, perhaps). Another kid, minutes after openly admitting that he was trying to make a good impression to the 'new Sir', burst into another teacher's office, called him a rude word, and stole his coffee.

As expected, the school has its fair share of challenges (not just the kids!), but we all can't wait to get stuck in from September.

on a threshold

In just a few days, I will begin a journey that I was cautioned against. The government education agency here advises politely to 'bear in mind that Teach First is a demanding two-year programme and definitely not for the faint-hearted. You should do some thorough research to ensure that it is the option for you before you apply'. Gulp. Even Teach First themselves say that 'simply surviving is not enough'. They want more.

According to Teach First, for the next two years I'll need limitless supplies of energy, enthusiasm and optimism to tackle the inertia and disenchantment that characterise challenging schools. I’ll need to be creative, brimming with ideas and capable of packaging and repacking ideas to capture the interest of students who have disengaged from education. I've been told that I’ll need self-discipline, and the courage to confront failure and come back for more, because not everything I'll try will work. And I’ll need thick skin – rhino thick - in order to prepare to be challenged on everything I say or do, and to engage emotional judgement and relationship with people who probably feel that I owe them a lot but they owe me nothing.

Going into a challenging London school is going to be exactly that - challenging. But I go, as part of a team of fellow Teach Firsters, with the determination to make a difference. The intensive six-week residential camp to prepare me for this begins now. Apparently I can expect five hours of sleep each night. It's going to be a breeze and I can't wait!

looking in the mirror

My three months in Rwanda have almost come to a close. I have the weekend free, Monday to pack, and then on Tuesday a date with Kenya Airways. Wednesday I’ll be hitting the ground running as I begin my two-year journey with Teach First, in a tough London secondary school.

Perhaps some of the reasons for my time here will only become clear later in life. But already I know that I've been impacted in a number of ways. Tearfund not only sent me to assist in the work of their partner, they also wanted to empower me, to change me, to transform me. These words mean a lot, but yet they also mean very little if I don't consider specifically how I have been empowered, changed, and transformed. So some thoughts:

* I have realised the value in living simply, and that I'm prepared to give it a go even in London. Living simply for me doesn't mean eating couscous and meditating all day. But it means reducing jam-packed commitments in favour of being more committed to just a few focus areas. It means spending more time with fewer friends. It means getting rid of clutter in my room, and in my routine. It will mean having to prise myself away from the 'more-is-better' approach to consumption.

* I have experienced a journey of real discovery in Rwanda, consisting not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes (Proust). These new eyes will enable me to consider how my lifestyle choices in London are linked to the people that I've spent these last three months with. Where has my tea actually come from? Who made my latest branded sports shoes and what is their life like? Am I using a bank that lends to an oppressive regime? I've understood the need to make more ethical choices.

* Living in a country that doesn't use English as a main language has reminded me of those wonderful years in Asia when I was speaking foreign languages all the time. I have been encouraged to treasure those times more, and to hold on to all that foreign vocab somehow.

* Seeing children die has made me love young people more. When they die, so do their futures, and this has made me angry in a way. So I take to London a determination to work for the futures of the young people I will be teaching, and to be an advocate for the hungry and sick children around the world.

* I have realised the universal importance of addressing both material and spiritual poverty and so, even though my time in Rwanda is up, there is still a lot of addressing to do!

* I can now happily deal with four hour church services, mossie nets, speaking in front of thousands, zooming about on a motorbike, plus I am an expert bucketer (washing yourself using a bucket of water).

* I was told three months ago by a Teach First staff member that Africa will toughen me up for the London classroom. I now have an inkling she was bang on, and so I'm grateful for the challenges of Rwanda that will have prepared me for two years in a tough school. All part of the plan I think.

* I have been given fuel to fight the causes of poverty, to act justly, to be merciful and humble (Micah). I've been touched by the people's plight here, and I recognise that I must hold on to that touch. I must still care, and make it known that I care, even in London. As Brooke Fraser sings in her music about Rwanda, even though I'm going 'on a plane across a distant sea, I carry you in me. And in the dust on my feet, Rwanda'.

Perhaps you haven't spent three months on Rwandan soil, but you've been on the journey with me through this journal. I wonder what you've learnt.

spaghetti

The local Bishop says to visitors here that 'You don't come to Rwanda once'. If the Bishop is right, I guess I'll be returning one day. In any case, it's my last week in the country for now.

We invited a group of fifteen youth for lunch, as part of a number of goodbyes in different areas. Our cook prepared a kinda Rwandan-style spaghetti bolognese - with meat! They were even treated to a Coke. These guys normally can't afford to eat lunch, so obviously this was one of their meal highlights of the year. They all ate at least twice as much as I did, which made me smile. Their gratitude was so obviously real, and this made me appreciate having access to a regular supply of food. There were some quite teary-eyed youth when we had to say goodbye.