Richard Elam

"Daddy, will you pull my chair to the window please?"

"Of course. Why?"

"I want to read and watch the world."

Lasted a lot longer than their marriage. 😂

End of an era: we’re down to the very last roll of double-sided tape.

My dad 'liberated' a giant box of the stuff from work and stashed it in the cellar roughly 35 years ago.

This Christmas, three and a half decades on, the supply will finally run out.

Oh yes. It was the first question I asked when they approached me. 😂

My day with the little one is sacrosanct!

New school; new adventure.

Antler, trumpet, scales, boxes and boxes of books...

I just wish I hadn't accumulated so much teaching c**p along the way.

Thank goodness the new place is open tomorrow so I can move in properly.

I remember House Points for quality work when in KS2 and being absolutely determined that my house was going to win.

I think I was motivated more by the competition than the reward itself.

Sometimes @teachertapp.bsky.social makes me feel like the odd one out...

Some days I think going part time was the best work decision I ever had.

Other days, I know it was.

a dog is sticking its head out of a dog door on a door mat . ALT: a dog is sticking its head out of a dog door on a door mat .

Led an assembly on ID this week and I thought I'd begin by showing all the various ID I carry in my wallet.

Bank card... Driving licence... Donor card... Library card... Gym card...

“Gym!?" pipes up one 5 year old, “You go to a gym?”

I'm still in a whirl from trying, unsuccessfully, to explain what it meant to "rewind" something. 😂

a man sitting on a couch says we are so old while drinking from a mug ALT: a man sitting on a couch says we are so old while drinking from a mug

Took a Y5 class to the National Media Museum today...

👦🏼 Sir, sir, sir. What's that weird thing in this display? It's well shiny. What is it?

👨🏼‍🏫 That, young man, is... a compact disc.

@mr-n-wood.bsky.social How's the training going?

You ready for a *checks the article* couch to 278km yet? 😱

www.irunfar.com/sarah-webste...

"Daddy!! I do your work!"

Sure mate, after staring at the screen all day, you'll probably do a better job answering these NPQ questions anyway.

a cartoon character standing in the middle of a forest with trees in the background ALT: a cartoon character standing in the middle of a forest with trees in the background

I used to be quite an ordinary chap, who had a quite ordinary brain;

But now with a toddler, endlessly I'm forced, to read Zog again and again...

a dog and a stick are standing next to each other on a grassy field . ALT: a dog and a stick are standing next to each other on a grassy field .

My mind works in rhyme, the whole utter time, it really is unfortunate luck;

Desperate, I implore, these books I adore, but Gruffalo please, off you..

a cartoon dragon with a unicorn horn is standing next to another dragon ALT: a cartoon dragon with a unicorn horn is standing next to another dragon

Now Donaldson's sweet, her books are a treat and I'm glad the little one does read;

But please I do beg cos, I fear and I dread I now have a terrible need...

a cartoon character standing in the middle of a forest with trees in the background ALT: a cartoon character standing in the middle of a forest with trees in the background

I used to be quite an ordinary chap, who had a quite ordinary brain;

But now with a toddler, endlessly I'm forced, to read Zog again and again...

That's just the easy question. We need to then consider...

Does X improve learning *here*?

Does X improve learning with *our* pupils?

Does X improve learning for *all* out pupils?

Does X improve learning for *every* teacher?

Does X improve learning *all*
the time?

And so many more...

Saw this and chuckled; then thought...

The World Cup lasts 4 weeks.

Fathers in the UK get 2 weeks of statutory leave.

So the situation in the UK is that a football tournament lasts longer than the time a dad is given to bond with his newborn child and support his family.

I'm still struck, by a documentary on Norwegian prisons I saw a while back.

The whole system's focus was on successful reintegration.

I'm paraphrasing but one governor said something like, "Who cares how long someone spends here if, after we've worked with them, they don't commit any more crimes?"

Down in Rock, Cornwall. This was Daymer Bay yesterday.

Not quite as relaxing with a two-year old, but equally as revitalising. 😍

Gorgeous, isn't it? One of my favourite places.

Having just returned from central France I'm definitely a victim of recency bias, but I don't care.

I'm asking for a glass of Sancerre and some Loire Valley goat's cheese.

@teachertapp.bsky.social I'd love to know the difference being a parent makes to this.

My answer is *very* different now to what it would have been before the little terror arrived on the scene.

❤️

I found a (very) old cassette tape with my name on it in a drawer at my mum's house a few months ago and when I played it, it was me as a baby.

My dad had recorded me, a few months old, just giggling and babbling away for about 20 mins.

Richard's page About us 60,000 determined and dedicated runners make the AJ Bell Great North Run the World’s biggest and best half marathon – famous for its warm North East welcome, unbeatable atmosphere and the mil

The biggest killer of young people in the UK... suicide.

I'm entering the Great North Run to raise funds for PAPYRUS, helping them to prevent suicides in young people and promote positive mental health.

All & any donations gratefully received.

ajbellgreatnorthrun2025.enthuse.com/pf/richard-e...

PAPYRUS, like all charities I guess, are the expert help you hope you never need, but their support has proved invaluable in the past to my colleagues.

Please, please help them be able to offer support when it is desperately needed in the future.

Richard's page About us 60,000 determined and dedicated runners make the AJ Bell Great North Run the World’s biggest and best half marathon – famous for its warm North East welcome, unbeatable atmosphere and the mil

The biggest killer of young people in the UK... suicide.

I'm entering the Great North Run to raise funds for PAPYRUS, helping them to prevent suicides in young people and promote positive mental health.

All & any donations gratefully received.

ajbellgreatnorthrun2025.enthuse.com/pf/richard-e...

I believe in training he got the takers to tell the keeper where they were going to shoot.

The rationale being, they still scored and so in crunch moments the players knew that if they did "their bit" right, the goalkeeper was irrelevant.