Almost goodbye...

Tomorrow is my last day in the D Y Patil International School... After almost 5 years in the school I have resigned.

Today I have witnessed the reasons why I stayed so long (these are the messages from students in class 6), I have totally loved working with so many fantastic young people and I hope I have been able to pass on my enthusiasm for science. I also have a fantastic group of colleagues, who I will sorely miss.

Unfortunately I have also seen exactly the reason why I am leaving the job I love. Being called out of a lesson preparation to be given 10 mins to hand over my role as Duke of Edinburgh's Award and CAS coordinator to 5 (yes 5!) unsuspecting colleagues who were pulled out of their lessons... Didn't know whether to laugh or cry - I put up a smile, but inside I was crying. I have spent the last 3 years building up the Award in school (unpaid) and have spent many a weekend away from my own family to make this possible for my students. I must have made it look easy if the Head of School thinks I can possibly hand this 'baby' over in 10 minutes. To me it proved once again that there is no real recognition of the value of my work in and out of the classroom. Coupled with the fact that I have never seen a change in salary since starting as a trainee teacher 5 years ago, despite the increasing responsibilities, nor building up a pension - it is time to move on. No matter how hard that is after reading all these messages...