I'm finding it very easy to get along with just about everyone at school, both amonst the staff and the pupils. I makes every day extremely pleasant indeed.

Yesterday I thoroughly enjoyed teaching my year nine group. They're not the brightest pupils to have graced our school's corridors but they're nice kids. All year long they've been asking which football team I support so I gave them a clue by saying when we last won the league - much too long ago by the way.

A year ten group I take one lesson every two weeks were very pleasant too. They've been hard work but we've got there in the end, yesterday's lesson was my last with the group and they were all smiley leaving the room with lots of 'seeya sir's. Though the lesson wasn't helped by one of the Key Stage 3 assistant leaders coming in to ask about something to do with PSHE days. For this particular task my form were already well organised so she was very grateful to me for getting it sorted, to such an extent that my pupils thought we were sleeping with each other.

Next week I'm off on year nine camp so have been warning my pupils to expect a cover teacher. You normally get lots of woo-hoos and cheering but I got lots of disappointed sighs from my pupils because I was leaving them for a week.

I had a nice relaxed computer lessons with my other year nines this afternoon and it was nice to just enjoy a bit of a joke with them. I've taught some of the girls in that class for the past two years so know them far too well. It's good fun though, it's always nice when you can be relaxed enough with your pupils to talk about more personal stuff like your friends, whether or not you're seeing anyone or just what you've up to at the weekend without feeling you ought to be holding back. Though seeing as one girl said she was going to stalk me by following my car, whose registration plate she had written down during a lesson in the car park, perhaps it's better to keep some things private such as my postcode - 'no I don't want you looking for my house on google earth'.

I was feeling so comfortable around school that following a discussion with those year nines in our previous lesson I wore a pink shirt. You can't wear a colour like that without expecting a reaction. Here are the top comments:

Staff

'Are you wearing that for a bet?' (sarcastic head of department)

'You look very pink'

'That's a very... different look'

'Wow! Someone's comfortable with their sexuality!' (Crazy friend from the English department)

'I really like that shirt' (Fashionable English teacher)

No comment but wide-eyed expression

'You've even co-ordinated the tie, that's odd for a boy' (Psychology student teacher)

'I heard you were wearing pink, though that's more crushed raspberry' (Art teacher)

Pupils

'Wow, like the shirt sir!'

'You look stunning' (Odd year eight)

'Ha!'

'I can't see!' (Year seven form member)

'Are you getting in touch with your feminine side sir?' (year nine girl who thinks I'm gay)

'I like your shirt'

'I like it too!' ('stalker' year nine. It's not a competition!)

I took all comments with good grace as even the less positive comments were meant in good nature, except for one boy who said I looked like a puff. Now that's taking things too far.