Work Week One ✅

In true British style, it all began with train delays.

South Western Railway didn’t make getting to Chester the most relaxing of tasks, but the excitement of meeting 30 fellow teachers meant that all logistical stress was soon forgotten (and the incredible on-campus catering can’t have hurt either). 3 jam-packed days followed and all too quickly our newly bonded group was torn in two. I think it’s fair to say we were all surprised by how emotional the goodbyes were, given that – just four days before- we had all been total strangers.

From there, the Valencia crew experienced something of an organisational hiccup… Suffice to say that hanging around Gatwick for an extra 10 hours only to fly to Alicante rather than Valencia did not leave spirits running high. Despite travel-related trials and tribulations, we made the best of it, finding time to go for a brief explore in our unanticipated stopover and taking some brilliant photos along the way.

Reaching Valencia unfortunately meant more farewells as our group is scattered fairly broadly around the region, but Monday midday we arrived at our much-anticipated apartment and new home for the month.

The apartment is fantastic. It has a kitchen and conservatory with every appliance we could want (and possibly a few more – not quite sure when we’ll get round to using that vegetable-steamer…). There’s a newly renovated bathroom, a lovely communal living room and a small balcony looking onto the streets of Mislata – only this morning we rolled out of bed to discover a neon-coloured marathon passing beneath us. If there is any complaint to make, it is that there are only 3 bedrooms for 4 of us – we were all rather under the impression we were guaranteed our own space.

We spent our first afternoon wandering through the Turia Riviera Park; an incredible green space that runs the width of the city. It’s filled with outdoor gyms, playgrounds and dozens and dozens of intertwining paths – the dream for any lover of outdoor exercise and a dangerously easy place in which to lose track of time. With the sun setting, we did a weekly shop and headed home, crunching on apples.

Tuesday morning was a 6am start for me. I have to be in school every morning at 8, but this being the first morning, I allowed extra time to a) navigate my metro changes and b) arrive early and (hopefully) make a good impression. I’m teaching at Colegio Sagrada Familia, a mixed Christian school where prayers are said every morning and religious imagery abounds, but what has struck me most about this institution is their inclusivity.

In every class I’ve seen, there has been at least one deaf student (in most cases, two) as well as students with Asperger’s and Down Syndrome. If there are prospective teachers reading, please don’t be intimidated – this school encourages students of all abilities to be involved wherever possible, but one-on-one support is given where necessary. The students themselves are champions of inclusion; I’ve seen the most troublesome classroom clowns act as the most tender supporters of special needs classmates. The culture here is one of participation and community, and it has been truly heart-warming to see.

Less heart-warming is the prospect of teaching up to 6 hour-long classes of 30 teenagers per day. These classes have very mixed levels of ability and even more varied levels of interest. Some students (mostly the girls) are incredibly hard-working and well-behaved, others (mostly the boys – in particular the 13-15 age category) are the students of your nightmares, gleefully admitting to not having done the work and almost always talking (unfortunately not in English). Keeping all of these students involved and engaged all of the time is an impossible task; you have to cut yourself some slack, but I’m certainly enjoying the challenge of keeping as many of them on-board for as much of my hour as possible.

P.S. liking Game of Thrones and Stranger Things will help