Beware The Ides of June

For instructors month of June is characterized by contrasting, if not contrary moods. December is about Christmas. Feb/March is the focus of SQA and/or external (practical) exams, and the flowering of preparations for the East Lothian Showcase Concert. May is all about SQA (written) exams. June seems to pull in many directions.

• seniors have completed a six-year chapter of their lives while space is being created on timetables for the new S1
• some of these new arrivals are familiar faces - the changeover explained to them during their final lessons in P7 while others are, as yet, unknown
• new courses are being unfurled while friends (on the outside) ask if we are pretty much winding down
• timetables stretching into bleak mid-winter are pinned up while the rest of the world seems to be playing football or tennis in tropical temperatures

Perhaps the most vivid contrast of style will take place in MGS within the space of 12 hours. The Prize Giving – the most ceremonial evening of the year - begins at 7.00 this evening. Academic gowns, formal dress, speeches and necessarily military logistics ensure the appropriate tone for this capacity-crowd celebration of achievement. In contrast, the Gig On The Grass, which takes up Thursday, has the apparent looseness of a fun fair cum rock festival. However, those in the field (no pun intended) know that the seemingly anarchic mood is also underpinned by a huge feat of organization on the part of Gordon Gallagher and the many members of staff who are helping out.

What I like about this type of event is that pupils and teachers end the session by letting their hair down together - this requires less gravity in some cases than in others. There is no feeling that finally pupils can get away from us – or vice versa. Valiant members of staff have agreed to sit in the stocks while pupils cool their fevered brow, from twenty paces, with wet sponges. Several pupils have entered an air guitar competition. There will be a variety of student bands performing throughout the day. Together with Gordon (CDT), Ricky (Physics) and six pupils, I will be playing a part in a staff-student band. I haven’t played keyboards for many years and I’ve never sung backing vocals before – and certainly never the two together. Stepping out of your area of expertise is what keeps you young – and an attempt at 70s outfits should reinforce this. The last time I wore 70s clothes they were just called your clothes.