Day 5 #OfGodAndMe

If I drew a ‘stress graph’ of my professional life from 1996 to the present day it would look like a mountain range (1990-96 was a tranquil plain). Stress came with being accountable for hundreds of students, staff ‘performance’ and parental expectations...

Our third boy, Euan, was born in the summer of 1998 in a cottage hospital in Frome. So my middle management stress came at a time when we had three boys under five. Janet was teaching part-time, that was a team decision, this was a team effort...

Faith at this time was like a programme running in the background (or in the foreground but unnoticed?). It was taking the boys to church (they served on the altar), life in a Catholic school but not central to the Catholic life. No great spark or time to give to growth...

We bought our first house in Frome when it was a backwater, not listed in the Top Destinations. A Victorian townhouse which needed a lot of love but had a garden for three wee boys in shorts and wellies to potter in. We did the young couple DIY thing, stripping flags and doors...

...Until I got sacked from DIY when I took a phone call with a wet paintbrush in my hand and then just kept on painting, didn’t even notice the little hairs on the wall. Janet was always the practical one, I just pretended. We’ve always laughed at gender stereotypes.

Pivotal conversations, the tap on the shoulder. My headteacher at the time was always up for a chat and he had good coffee in his office. “You should go for the headship at St Joseph’s.” “But I’m applying for deputy headships...” “You should go for the headship at St Joseph’s...”

I went for the headship at St Joseph’s, in Salisbury. It was a Catholic secondary modern school (didn’t even know they existed). I was up against 3 battle-hardened deputies who tried to spook each other with war stories. I was horizontal with lack of expectation. I got the job...

I started in headship at St Joseph’s after the Easter break in 2002. My first assembly was on the Queen Mother, who had just died. Not my natural territory. I found out after appointment that the school was in ‘challenging circumstances’. I was more or less completely clueless...

PS. I’ve been contacted by somebody two years below me at Blairs, now a very fine priest who has helped me a lot at critical moments. He sent me this photo of my final year in Blairs in 1980 (I’m FR, SL). My good buddy Martin, my best man, is on the left of Fr Joe Boyle.

I was going to do more this evening but it’s Friday and time for a glass of wine and a movie. A lot to get in to Day 6 and 7! Until then...