5 Tor Challenge and Eeyore's House!

Wattern Tor

Wattern Tor

The Fishleigh Pose!

This weekend my friend and colleague, Emma, took me onto the moor and taught me how to navigate. We found our way up 5 different Tors. Although the moor was busy with people training for the Ten Tors, we still found a few secluded spots. My thanks go to Emma for teaching me and providing me with a few much needed snacks. We were lucky enough to see loads of wildlife including woodpeckers, cuckoos and lizards! No snakes luckily although I hear they were about.

Made it!

Scarey Tor

Bluebell woods

After this walk I got the bug so today I decided to find a Tor of my own: Scarey Tor. Turns it that it wasn't scary at all and even on a grey day the views were pretty good.

Eeyore's house

Cleeve Hill Circular

I have just realised that I haven't blogged for a while so thought I better catch up.

I had a lovely few days celebrating Easter at home. Mum and Bethany joined me on a fantastic walk up and around Cleeve Hill which provided fantastic views all the way to the Severn Bridge, Wales and the Midlands. We were lucky enough to watch a plane fly below us as well! Thank you Mum and Bethany for keeping me going throughout the holidays.

Week 15 - Cracked the 800km - 75km to go

I have cracked 800km! The end is in sight!

Week 13 - 700km! 169km to go!

This weekend I hit the 700km mark! I am well on track to get to 893km to meet the target!

I have done 25km (after a long journey up the M5) this week so give or take 1km I think I must have hit the 700km at the weekend! I have at least one more big walk planned in for this week, hopefully two, so it is all going really well.

Enjoying Easter - Sun, Sink Holes and Scones

The holidays have been fantastic for getting my miles up. Living in Devon means there are so many fabulous places to go out for a nice walk. My sister has been staying and we have been making the most of the warmer weather visiting North Cornwall for a very scenic, if slightly overcast walk as well as exploring local Dartmoor and climbing up to Great Links Tor - the second highest Tor on Dartmoor. This took some finding as we strayed from the Bridleway but the views at the top were well worth it. Plus there was the added bonus of finding the perfect patch for a picnic! During the North Cornwall walk we discovered a giant sink hole in the cliff near Trevone which was really unusual. This walk was completed, as is customary, by a cream tea - of course!

Fantastic CPD Links - Thanks LRTT

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Suddenly the trip seems to be very real. I have spent the first week of the holidays doing prep, getting things organised ready for Rwanda. I have now booked flights and even confirmed seats. I know which planes I'm getting and where to sit! I've started my vaccinations and got my big bag etc sorted so can start to gather together bits and pieces ready to go. One job I finally got round to was putting up flyers and posters around town. Many shops were kind enough to take one and display either in a window or on a notice board - do keep a look out. Thank you to all those who helped. 




I also completed my first "E-Learn" with LRTT. I had put it off, fearing an essay style response was required but it was actually really interesting and made me reflect on my teaching practice and how I can use my experiences in Rwanda. I came across two really interesting videos. One talking about practising making permanent but not always perfect. It now seems so obvious but it is something I have never thought about previously. When reflecting and looking for CPD, I have a habit of focusing on my weaker areas. I'm often asked "what do you need to improve?" This video suggests we should instead focus on our stronger areas, making sure they are well practised and successful. Continual practise of sub-optimal skills will mean that they remain at this level but become more permanent, actually impeding development. So now, I plan to focus on what I am good at, making sure that is as good as can be, to allow more room to develop other areas.


The second video was a speech given by Dr. Christopher Emdin from Colombia University. He speaks about the magic a teacher can possess; getting that level of engagement that some teachers are able to achieve and how we should look outside schools to learn how to do this. Rap artists, preachers, magicians - all of these people can hold an audience and this is a skill we as teachers should be building. The video is well worth a watch.

Walking faster than a train!

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It's the Easter holidays!

I've spent the first week pottering around, catching up on jobs and doing more organising. My Dad and Sister decided to come to Dawlish Warren on the train as they wanted to walk the sea wall. Once again it was an absolutely glorious day. We had a lovely stroll along the wall - the beach looked almost tropical! Dad and Bethany were getting the train from Dawlish back home so I decided to walk back to Dawlish Warren to get my car. I was already half way along the wall before they passed! See if you can spot me walking in Bethany's video! I am there and I wave! Maybe walking is quicker than the train! It's certainly nicer on a hot sunny day.