Strange Term

It has been a very odd term. The length of the two halves was uneven, with the half term break being moved by the school to fit in with the elections, meaning a seven-and-a-half week first half and a two-and-a-half week second half. All the independent schools in Kenya did this, because a repeat of the 2007 post-election violence was feared and it was felt that the pupils should be at home. It was a relief that the unrest did not happen. We had stocked up on food for the half term break, in anticipation of not being able to leave the school grounds and we had practised lockdown procedures with the pupils before they went home, all of which was a little daunting. The result of the election will be contested in the Supreme Court, but the followers of the defeated candidate Odinga did not take to the streets. As it took so long to count the votes and it was still not known five days after polling day what would happen, the Heads of the schools kept them closed for an additional three days, which means that when the pupils come back tomorrow, it will only be two weeks before they are going home for Easter. Some of them come from as far away as Nigeria - a long way to come for two weeks of school.
I did not go away during the break, but enjoyed the peace and sunshine, and spent some of each day writing 57 reports, which still have the same deadline, regardless of the changes to term dates. I also joined in with the band of people writing job applications for posts beginning in September!