Tomorrow is the last day of half term. Time flies when you’re up to your eyeballs in things to do. I spent last week feeling like I was really getting to grips with the day-to-day routine of teaching. I was getting a decent amount of sleep and I was planning less at home. But best of all, I even (kind of) felt like I knew what I might be teaching year 8 not just one but two lessons in advance. It was an exciting time.

That was last week, then Sunday evening hit me with the hardest case of back-to-school blues I have ever had. Having been a geek at school this whole “I don’t want to go to school Mum” feeling has been new and not entirely welcome. The end of this weekend was like a Christmas comedown. The presents were open, the leftovers had been polished off and tomorrow was just a normal day. It seemed that my super-efficient penultimate week of half-term had drained me.

When Monday morning came I could not imagine getting up and going through another school day.

It was so strange. I wasn’t whipping up a last minute lesson plan at eight in the morning; I wasn’t marking on the bus; and I wasn’t typing in assessment data at lunch. I was totally prepared on paper but in my head I had run out of steam. At the end of a sleepwalked day I tried to focus on the week ahead; a shocking amount of ends need to be tied up before any kind of break and half term is no exception. As I stared at nothing my phone buzzed.

“Hey mate, thought you looked a bit down today so I thought I’d text to say that this week before half term was my longest last year. And just so you know the kids do like you, even if they don’t show it.”

The text was from a Teach Firster one year ahead of me and it made my day. I have worked very hard this half term and at the end of it I find myself physically and mentally exhausted. Exhausted in the most literal sense – like every scrap of energy has been spent. But because of my colleagues I also find myself laughing a lot. They are the most supportive group of people I have ever met. I am in safe hands here. I wouldn’t be anywhere else.

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