Last Summer I was invited to speak at a school’s conference in North London by John D’Abbro. I soon realised that this was not going to be a normal event. John challenged me to speak to the teachers attending about some of the most\u00a0difficult times in my working life.<\/p>\n
The conference theme was “Stepping out of your Comfort Zone” and I certainly was going to be doing that. For the first time publicly I spoke at length about some of the most painful and darkest times I have faced in teaching. Exploring the true lows I faced during 2010 and to a room full of strangers. I had lost sight of what my comfort zone was!<\/p>\n
I learned a great deal from sharing those stories. It proved a really important emotional turning point for me and as\u00a0delicate\u00a0as they were to share, the process proved cathartic and significant. I spoke of those people around me, my amazing wife Helen who propped me up everyday and Neil Hopkin who cooled acidic moments with his unwavering support.<\/p>\n
I had no script, no previous version to draw on – just the emotions from those days and some distance that enabled me to weave something meaningful for those who were listening. I tried my best to keep it together.<\/p>\n
It is close to two years now since I had mornings when I had to pull the car over, on my way to school, and try and stop crying. Hard as those times were I reach back into that darkness now with a steady hand and draw strength from getting through those days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last Summer I was invited to speak at a school’s conference in North London by John D’Abbro. I soon realised that this was not going to be a normal event. John challenged me to speak to the teachers attending about some of the most\u00a0difficult times in my working life. The conference theme was “Stepping out… <\/p>\n