Spending a Summer evening in Glastonbury, Somerset: Things to do beyond the festival by Kay on 18 March 2025 Posted in United Kingdom There’s nothing better than stopping off and spending a Summer evening in Glastonbury when the weather is so glorious. Glastonbury is certainly worth visiting, even when the festival isn’t taking place. On our visit, we spent an afternoon and evening exploring the town, walked up Glastonbury Tor and finished with fish and chips and a Read More 11
A day trip to Birmingham: What to see and things to do by Kay on 17 March 2025 Posted in United Kingdom Planning a day trip to Birmingham? Birmingham is an easy city to explore by train, with Birmingham New Street right in the heart of the city centre. From the Bullring and Ozzy the Bull to the canals, the Library of Birmingham and Bindleyplace, there’s plenty to see and do in Birmingham in one day. Birmingham, Read More 15
A new kind of playground duty expectation! by Kay on 15 March 2025 Posted in Teaching Playground duty in Spain… Before I came to work in Spain, I worked in a fairly large school consisting of two playgrounds. During playtimes there were roughly 180-240 on each of the two playgrounds, as it was a two-form entry school. And, on each playground, there would be 5-6 adults on duty. However, in Spain, Read More 1
A staff meeting and a half!! by Kay on 6 March 2025 Posted in Teaching Monthly staff meeting… Once a month we were required, in our contracts, to work until 7 pm. Sometimes this was allocated time in our classes updating displays, marking, preparing resources or meetings within our teaching teams. Other times there were specific things the management team wanted to discuss and inform us about. So it was Read More 3
Teaching in Spain: When school management doesn’t communicate! by Kay on 3 March 2025 Posted in Teaching When I first moved to Spain to teach, I expected my biggest challenges to be adapting to a new school, learning Spanish and getting used to a different education system. I didn’t expect communication with school management to be one of my biggest frustrations! Last full week before the holidays… It’s Monday morning and the Read More 4
The washing line is where now? by Kay on 1 March 2025 Posted in Life abroad A new concept! The idea of how the Spanish wash their clothes, particularly in the cities, was quite a new concept to me. Yes, most apartments had washing machines as part of the furnishings when looking for a rental, some even had driers. This was a handy feature so that I didn’t have the faff Read More 3
What to do when things go wrong abroad: Another gormless teacher moment! by Kay on 25 February 2025 Posted in Life abroad Living abroad as a teacher sounds exciting, and it is, but occasionally things don’t quite go to plan. During my time teaching in Spain, I found myself in a situation where I really needed help – and, predictably, managed to make the situation rather more complicated than it needed to be! Homesick… Sadly, my time Read More 7
When Spanish head went a#se over t#t! by Kay on 23 February 2025 Posted in Teaching It’s nice just to be left to get on with it! More often than not I usually get left alone to get on with teaching my classes without being disturbed. Or ‘spied’ on as we were in my last school. Back in England, there was a time before I left when we were told to Read More 7
Spanish parents’ meetings… by Kay on 20 February 2025 Posted in Teaching A different arrangement… One thing that wasn’t really discussed in much detail during my interview was how the Spanish parents’ meetings were arranged. Given that there are two teachers and two classes. I remember asking the question, and the English head dismissing it. Saying that it was something that the two teachers arranged together and Read More 10
Journey home entertainment educacion infantil style! by Kay on 18 February 2025 Posted in Teaching What happens when two young Spanish students turn the school bus journey home into their own English-language concert? As an English teacher working in Spain, I quickly discovered that the school day doesn’t necessarily end when the children leave the classroom! These two students regularly entertained us by singing the English songs they had learned Read More 5
