Bittersweet

As many teachers will know, the end of the academic year (I know, it's only May, but for exam groups this is pretty much the end) with a class you love is a time of mixed emotions. There is relief that you got the content covered, satisfaction and pride you think back over how far your students have progressed, delight at an exam paper that your students could really show their ability in, and a camaraderie that only joint victory over the swirling allegiances of the late Republic can bring! The in-jokes are plentiful and bizarre (Did you know that Odysseus' companion Eurylochus was a bipedal gecko?), and the shared memories just as... singular.

But then they leave!

Well, some do. It has been a mixed 6th form class so the year 13s are off to university, and some yr12s aren't continuing after AS. From after half term, the class will be a different beast. I'm hugely looking forward to it, and the fun will certainly continue, but I'm also sad that the gang will be reduced in number and some faces will be missing.

I mean, they even made me birthday cakes! Unfortunately I only got a blurry mess of a shot of Natasha's 3d temple with columns and a pediment, but at least I got a decent one of the toga wearing gummy bears that were strolling amidst the columns. At least you can see Chloe's SPQR cake clearly enough. Both were delicious!

There was also chocolate, fizzy drinks, crisps, and Cards Against Humanity - you know it's a Classics game when the card about Zeus' appetites is the unbeatable card!

This has been the first year of A level Classical Civilisation at Redborne and it's probably the most fulfilling and laughter-filled thing I've done as a teacher. Thank you, 12B, I couldn't have asked for a better crew to make that journey into the unknown with - and none of you got eaten by monsters! I'm going to count that as a success, and I hope that those of you whose journey now follows a different course will stay in touch and remember not to eat the beef. Time for the rest of us to see what's over the horizon - Troy and Carthage by my reckoning...