It seems to have been a real mix of up and downs this week. I followed Monday afternoon's stress-fest - 'I don't want to be in your class because I really don't like you' - with my performance management observation on Tuesday morning. With my bottom set year eights. One of whom has ADHD.

To make matters worse I felt like one of the science teachers was trying to jinx me. I told her I had an observation first thing she was saying that she only had one class she wouldn't want to be observed with: her bottom set year eights, without realising this was the scenario I was facing. She tried to backtrack a little: 'maybe my class is on the other half of the year, mine's the A half'. Yeah, me too. It was all very ominous.

So I was very relieved that the lesson was a success. So good that my head of department rated it as Outstanding. It was very satisfying, especially as I hadn't done anything differently just because someone had come in to see the lesson.

This was followed by our Open Evening for parents trying to decide which Secondary School to send their children to. I had a nice covnersation with the parents of one of my year nines who has apparently been singing my praises to them. A teacher could get big headed. I also had a very strange conversation with a parent of a bright child who she wanted strtching sideways as well as upwards. I wasn't entirely sure what she was on about her but assured her we stretched our pupils in the full compass spectrum of directions.

The only fly in the ointment the past few days has been my form. Soem fo the boys are getting rather big for their boots, with one boy who seems to think he's above turning up for detention after messing aroudn during a fire drill. I'm going to get some senior back-up in order to bash a few heads together.

On Friday the Head informed us that we were going down from a Red Ofsted alert to Amber. Under the old system Ofsted left a maxmimum of three years betweens visits to a school. We've already passed that so the Head had contacted her union who told her Ofsted were trying to be less predictable to avoid schools gearing up for them. Rumours of a man in a suit with a clipboard standing in the bushes behind A-block have yet to be confirmed.

I finished the week with a very sore throat which has since developed into a full-blown cold, though there's no sign of man-flu. This gives me two days to prepare for the next week of adventures.