Staff meeting. A new approach, apparently! by Kay on 13 January 2026 Posted in Teaching I’ve been teaching for a few years now, so it’s safe to say that in those years I’ve attended my fair share of staff meetings. I have also experienced these regular meetings, which occur weekly or twice weekly on occasion, in three different countries now. I’ve found that they don’t seem to differ that much Read More 5
Closing of the first overseas chapter… by Kay on 15 April 2025 Posted in Teaching Where does the time go? As we get closer to the end of the school year and that well-earned summer break, I sit with my coffee on the terrace on a sunny Sunday morning. Tomorrow will be the last week of the year and the closing of the first overseas chapter for me. As I Read More 4
Fiestas del Pilar Zaragoza: What to see & do at Zaragoza’s October Festival by Kay on 27 March 2025 Posted in Spain Fiestas del Pilar is Zaragoza’s biggest annual celebration, taking place every October in honour of the Virgen del Pilar. It features the spectacular Ofrenda de Flores and entertaining Gigantes y Cabezudos, from concerts to street entertainment and fireworks beside the River Ebro in Zaragoza. I visited Fiestas del Pilar while living in Spain with a Read More 16
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
Hour of need, or just another gormless ‘me’ moment? by Kay on 25 February 2025 Posted in Life abroad Homesick… Sadly, my time at home for the Christmas break had come to an end. My flight was at 7:15 pm. After the long 3-month term, I had no idea just how homesick I had been and how much I’d missed home. I guess the whole moving overseas and starting a new job had kept 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
