Getting ready to move

I hope I've got enough boxes, although I'm already beginning to have serious doubts about this. I've been saving boxes for the last 12 months in preparation for the move, but now the time to pack has come I'm not so sure I've got enough.

The first steps to moving my classroom to the new school were made yesterday. My whiteboards and bulletin boards were taken down and sent off to the new school. Hopefully they will be put up in the correct places by the time I get out there on Saturday.

With students in the classroom today and half of tomorrow there were limits to what could be done in terms of packing up, but we did make a start on it this afternoon. While the children watched the movie "Santa Buddies", I started boxing some of the classroom equipment. Tomorrow morning the kids will pack the contents of their desks into plastic bags which will then be placed in large plastic tubs for transport to the new school. There was a suggestion that we just send student materials home, but I know that if I do that I will have kids without things on the first day back at school. This way I'm guaranteed that everyone will have all the things they need when school resumes on 11 January 2009.

I was somewhat surprised yesterday to discover that there is to be “Grand Opening” of the new school on Saturday 9th January. Surprised? Actually, I think irritated would be a better word for it. The first that I heard of this “Grand Opening” was when I was handed a notice for students wishing to participate in the choir to be at school for a practice on Friday 8th January. More information came to light in the “Wednesday Update”, which informed us that this ceremony will take 90 minutes followed by refreshments and tours of the new campus. I hope they will understand that some of us really need that time in our classrooms rather than listening to speeches and musical items!

OK. It's time for bed if I'm going to get that classroom packed up ready to move tomorrow, as well as having some positive input in the children's lives tomorrow.