If you’ve never worked in a school, this post probably isn’t for you. To the uninitiated, Christmas in primary education is a sugar-mouse idyll: squeaky-clean festive cheer, sweetness and (Christmas) light. It’s not.
Behind the doors of the stable, it’s another story entirely. Mary and Joseph are in the midst of a domestic. The donkey’s kicked-off and the Three Wise Persons should know better. Christmas is a time for giving, but there’s evidently quite a lot of taking liberties. Tea-towels are frayed.
This is entirely normal and happens every year. It’s the distillation of fever-pitch levels of excitement, Norovirus and complete and utter exhaustion. Fact: 75% of teachers are ill at the most wonderful time of the year. Those that aren’t, manage to stave off the evil lurgy just long enough for the holidays to commence. The seasonal flu (hum)bug seems to know when to strike. Guards are down. Something’s got to give and it’s usually you. Why? You’ve reached saturation point and the naughty elves have been at play.
In some households, offspring has been whipped-up into a frenzy of festive fug since November 6th. Seven weeks of escalating pure make-believe is not conducive to autumn term assessments or consolidation of place value, and the ability to self-regulate has been outsourced to ‘elf’ regulation. Beleaguered heads belligerently urge curriculum teaching to continue to the very last, whilst simultaneously raising eyebrows at the quality of learning. Christmas cards, calendars and decorations necessitate completion (they’re no good in January, after all) and all this is in conjunction with a jazzy whole-school production of ‘There’s No Sin in Cinderella’ (the musical).
Despite suffering from a hefty dose of something unpleasant, 99% of teachers determine to see the Christmas season through to the end of term. I’m not suggesting this is right or wrong, but it is indicative of a stubborn refusal to do anything less than their best. Teachers care more than most people know. It’s definitely not just a job. They do their utmost to ensure the most wonderful time of the year lives up to its billing – not just for the children but for their families and entire communities. Christmas spirit isn’t found in a bottle, but behind the gates of your children’s primary. You won’t find it in a ‘pass-the-parcel’ because it can’t be wrapped. It can, however, be radiated. From an epicentre of which YOU are the catalyst. You make Christmas waves that stay with young people for ever.
You only experience a handful of truly unforgettable experiences throughout the course of a lifetime. Right now, is probably one such occasion, if you let it. Magic is real because that’s how it feels when you’re seven years old. We should all try and hang on to at least a bit of it.
Embrace it. Enjoy it. Celebrate it. You deserve it.
Merry Christmas,