6.00am
Awake with alarm going off. It's a dark morning, so difficult to fully comprehend that it is morning time. Down to the kitchen to make drinks. Have made tea for my wife Laura every morning for the past 20 years. Back to bed to watch the BBC news. Rant at the TV about the government's latest ideas about education. Feel for the secondary schools as the goal posts have moved again. It seems as if every time we start to see progress they just keep raising the bar. Calmed by Laura who has heard my rants many times before. Time to rise and get the suit on, pack the lunch boxes and slap hands/pass baton to my mother-in-law who comes round to help take my son to school. Laura and my daughter long gone to their schools.
7.30am
Chris Evans entertains on the way to school. Spend the driving time mulling over the day ahead. Make mental notes of urgent things that I need to do as soon as I get in. Used to feel a sense of guilt about going in 'so' late into work but have realised over time that the school still functions and that, in a positive way, my great team can organise things very well without me.
8.00am
Swift stop at school to fill in the communication board as I have a breakfast meeting today with the local authority (LA). Check with site manager Sue that all okay, then whizz on.
11.00am
Back at school at last. The breakfast meeting went on longer than I expected. Systems restructuring in the LA again. Glad to be back as a training group called Positively MAD are in for the day. Lots of fun and packed with helpful visual memory skills for the children to use. Have a meeting with a parent that is longer than expected. It is amazing how often the word bullying is used these days for incidents that would previously have been seen as something else.
12.00pm
In the playground as usual. Never have a lunch break. Keep promising myself that I will and that it is good for me but never put the promise into action. Lots of children want to ring the bell and come up and ask. Disappointed faces walk away as I let them know that I have already chosen two people for the job. It is wonderful to look around the playground and see all the children playing so well together.
1.00pm
Make a quick coffee after all the children are back safely in their classrooms. Emeline, the new home school worker, comes in with an annoyed look on her face. Difficult child in year 5 has been very disrespectful. Emeline is very patient and it takes a lot to make her feel this way. Decide with my deputy Kevin to tackle the boy head on. Tell him directly that I am disappointed with his attitude towards my staff and things need to change. Who knows what Monday will bring but I remain optimistic that we can sort things out before secondary school for him.
3.30pm
After school staff training session with Positively MAD. Considering it is Friday afternoon I am impressed with the enthusiasm shown by the teachers. They involve themselves fully and there are lots of laughs. A great antidote to the afternoon events and just what the doctor ordered.
Head off home after the training looking forward to a glass or two of a fine red wine (think I was probably a sommelier in my previous life.) Stop at shop to pick up the paper and the local rag – I like to keep up with the local news which will be flowing round the playground on Monday morning when the parents come in. Wish I hadn't looked at the national paper with its article on free schools. Keep wondering why Gove can't see things clearly but realise he doesn't want to.
5.30pm
Get home and quickly prepare the dinner. Chicken and chorizo bake with Mediterranean vegetables. Daughter feels unwell and retires to bed. Son not sure about the food but once tasted finishes most of his plate. Sit and drink a glass of wine with Laura and chat about pensions, retirement and the next 10 years.
8.00pm
On the computer ordering the delivery of food for the weekend. Website freezes but fortunately manage to rescue the situation. Check school emails. Reply to a few people that I had missed earlier in the day. Decide for some strange reason to click on the link on the Department for Education message that was sent about key stage 2 tests this year. Look at reading paper example. Looks like an 11+ paper to me! Get a scary mental picture of the possible future in education. Block it out and pour myself another glass of wine.
10.00pm
Exhausted after a long week. Watch TV in bed and realise how many chocolates I have eaten from the bag next to me. Watch the news and fall asleep in the middle of it. Awake with the TV still on and then find I can't get back to sleep. School issues buzzing around my head keep me awake. Eventually fall asleep and awake to the alarm. No rest for the wicked even on a Saturday morning. Up and out to music school with the children. Life feels like a revolving door sometimes.
Barry Read is head of RJ Mitchell primary school in Essex.
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