Phew! What a day - full timetable of teaching today, including a year eight performance of a play about the English Civil War. True that Cruise and Kidman have nothing to fear from my class - except several parts that ended up being more panto than Shakespeare - but a great effort anyway. Still, was a bit of a laugh and they got a lot out of it. Marking is pilling up a bit.

Had a Department Meeting after school today during which we were lucky enough to have an extremely effective teacher called Angela Brooke addressing us on ways of managing classroom discipline. I didn't think I had a problem until she painted the picture of what my class could be like! She had a real insight which broke down into providing consistency and structure, using a variety of tasks and resources, and the use of positive praise within the classroom. Am going to certainly apply one or two of the hints that she gave us - always good to really reflect on your practice. Also made me determined to set up a colleague observation asap.

Whilst my wife was at her parents evening tonight, so I used the time to go door-to-door in the Three Score village in Bowthorpe collecting names for our "Post Box Petition". Unbelievable that a community of 9,000 basically shares a single postbox. I wrote to Royal Mail who informed me that the had no plans to install any more. Three Score desperately needs their own box (I say speaking as a resident!) Very popular on the doorstep too, and we'll see what Royal Mail have to say when I present them the petition. It takes time but is worth it in the end - it was only people power that changed the Council's decision on Norwich Market and the roundabout at Wendene, so we wait and see.

Busy, busy, busy!