My son (7) started on cards last year when he got some at a party. He didn’t play with them, just traded them until we baulked at how much they are for a pack. He too is encyclopaedic in his knowledge of what evolves form what and whose special move is the best in any given situation.

We ended up playing a bit of Pokemon Go and he’s now more or less moved on from the cards. I must admit, apart from the downside of losing possession of my phone most of the time, it’s quite fun and has encouraged him to go out for long walks before bed to ‘hatch eggs’, ‘get on a stop’, and ‘ do a raid’. I may have even been known to nip out at lunchtime to hit a few pokestops myself, but I would deny it point blank if you were to ask me face to face.

Oh and he also has a fidget spinner – just one mind.

As oldeh says, my main concern would be the road quality, I spent a little time in Bourgas last year and the road from the airport to the town is great, beyond that you’d be better off on a MTB!

I was chatting to the guy in the bike shop in West Kirby when up visiting my inlaws this weekend. They have a demo fat bike in there that he said is perfect for a spin out to Hilbre. I was having to try very hard not to be lured into demoing the rather lovely Giant Trance they have in there too.

They’re very friendly in there, go have a chat.

I had a bout of sciatica just before Xmas and am only just now pain free. Mine was ‘only’ a ‘bulging disc’ but affected me down my lower back to the back of my right knee causing a lot of continuous pain. Far worse when lying or sitting and eventually receded to just only really affecting me at night.

I’d also recommend keeping as active as you can, avoiding anything stupid (weight lifting obvs) and taking ibuprofen. I went to a pilates trainer who is a chartered physio and got a series of exercises to help.

Longer term I’m going to continue to avoid lifting stupidly heavy things and try and do the pilates regularly, although I recognise I’m one of those people who will do stretches until the pain goes and then conveniently forgets to do it.

I’m happy with my latest Vans SK8 boots. They’re advertised as weather proof, although I’ve not properly tested this yet. Not sure about half sizes but worth a try? I got mine in Schuh so you could try them out there.

I got an email saying my purchases had been dispatched this morning.

Steveh – from memory, and it’s not happened all that often, it has usually occured when shifting down from 5th into 4th on a hill to find a bit of extra grunt but still at relatively high revs.

The engine safe (limp) mode then kicks in causing the van to reduce to a crawl. It’s easily solved by ‘turning off and back on again’ but is a real pain in the arse, particularly on the motorway.

Mysterymove

That’s a familiar issue with us. An ambitious gear change and the engine turns from pulling like a train into a frightened hamster. Do you have any info on precisely what you had done as, while it only happens very occasionally (and obviously only when the wife is driving), it is really disconcerting! I’d happily swap £30 for a fix.

Abbott’s Libre system is such a device.

It’s very good if rather spendy – £60 sensors last 14 days.

Whitemead (the CSMA one) is good if you’re with family as there’s a pool. I think you have to stay for a minimum of two nights though. A short ride along the family trail to Pedalabikeaway and close to Dowies etc too.

Bracelands is a big site a bit further north and further from the ‘main’ trails, but a good site with lots of cheeky stuff if you know where to look.

I’ve not tried any others in the area yet but will check out St Briavels.

I taught for three years before stepping sideways last summer. I was spending so much time on my pupils at the expense of my own family and didn’t want to get to a point where I resented it and/or became a corner cutter (AKA shite teacher).

I’d had a career before and am using that to help me try to get into outdoor/environmental education. I’ve some freelance work to tide me over and a very understanding wife to support me while I do voluntary work in the sector. I’m also doing some pretty lucrative private tutoring to keep the bank manager from the door. There are lots of kids out there at this time looking for support ahead of their exams – especially where they lack quality teaching in their schools.

That article in the Guardian referred to to by BillMC sums it up for me. Schools are soon going to, if they’ve not already, hit crisis point. Stressed departments with a lack of support, due to overworked and inexperienced staff, will put off those entering the profession. Those that are left will become poorer practitioners and the pupils will suffer. All teachers I knew expressed their concerns at the work/life balance – most would leave if they could be confident of finding a suitably paid alternative. It is a sorry state of affairs. I’ve never seen so many jobs advertised at this time of the year. My old school is looking for a new HoD in English and Maths, as well as additional teachers, for next September.

I, like Frankenstein and several others on here it would seem, have taught for three years and am currently on a ‘sabbatical’ while I assess my options. I’m also a science teacher and worked in other sectors for 10 years before making the move into education. I went in eyes wide open but have still been shocked by the workload, the relentless pressures and the appalling lack of respect from some quarters.

The tipping point for me was when we adopted in April this year. I already have one child but the thought of not ever getting to know this new addition was too much. I loved much about the job but didn’t want to risk my relationship with my own children while educating those of others! I’m lucky in that I have other skills and experience on my CV to fall back on. I still remain in education, but on a freelance basis that doesn’t require 70-80 hour weeks.

Many of my colleagues in school were sadly looking at their options, but for some who had gone into teaching straight from Uni there was little else that they could reliably side step into. The notice periods (at the end of the term you are in) are very restrictive when looking for alternative jobs outside of education without breaking a contract and letting your class down. I regularly read about the predicted teacher shortage and agree it is inevitable – making the pressure on those left even greater. Two science teachers (from a dept of only eight) have already left since the start of this academic year in my old school. Poorly equipped NQTs who have been dropped into high pressure jobs in already under staffed departments.

I’d struggle to recommend it as a profession to anyone at the moment. I know some schools are better than others, and certainly some subjects are less intense than science, but still. Those that had been there a while spoke of the downward spiral in recent years but it’s such a shame that what can be such a fantastic job at times become too much of sacrifice for me and my own family.

You could do worse than the bunk house at the Fountain Inn in Parkend.

Plenty of room in dorms plus a pub serving reasonable pub grub and a fine fry up in the morning. Rumour has it they don’t discriminate against the hirsute of aris.

I agree a_a’s list is a good starting point. My F800 is a practical option, not the cheapest but the belt drive should be low maintenance and the extras were all things I would have opted for anyway given the chance. I’m only up the road from Reading in Oxford, and the option to filter through the, at time stationary, ring road can save a bit of time a peak hours. That said, as mentioned, with the faff time before and after to get into and out of gear the commute time is probably slightly longer, just more predictable.

It’s also an efficient way to travel but most importantly for me it’s more fun! I’m a teacher and with the luggage I can fit a good number of books in to mark at the weekend. Without the luggage it’d be a real challenge.

The heated grips were very welcome at the beginning of this week when it was 2 degrees down here in Oxon. Then this morning, when I’d added all the extra layers to my gear, the temperature had risen to 15 degrees and I was boiling in the bag!

garage-dweller – Member
What is a uie?

Thanks all temptation rising….

A U-turn!

Rachel – I’ve got the F800ST and love it – once I’d got used to the indicators!

I did my CBT 18 months ago and rode a 125 for a year before taking my Mod 1 and Mod 2 this summer. The 125 was great (I went for a ‘big’ 125 – a Honda Varadero) – I got 90 odd mpg and could manage 70 on the dual carriage way. However I decided to go for the full licence after a year and as soon as i’d ridden a 600cc the 125 felt laboured and a little dangerous in comparison.

I passed the test and within a week I’d part ex’d the 125 for a BMW F800. It still gets a decent 65mpg but is so much nicer on my 20mile commute. It is safer as you can get away from the lights so much faster and overtake with confidence. It also came with full luggage and handy options like heated grips making it so much more practical. Oh and it’s more fun!

Although it is probably a more costly route I’d recommend this way in. i’m not sure I’d have felt happy on a 600cc + until I’d got some road time on the 125. Respect to those who go for the full DAS 5 day option but it wasn’t for me.

anagallis_arvensis – Member
40% of teachers leave the profession in 5 years, or something like that. Shit training, shit support once in post and shitting mental expectations are the problems. Seen a lot of teachers leave my current school too. Sucks.

Yep, that’s my experience too. I’m two years in and wondering how many more I’ll do unless the work life balance gets a little more in the favour of ‘life’. Our department, and the school in general, has a high turnover – mostly experienced staff leaving and Newly Qualified Teachers coming in. Of the six people I trained with doing science on my PGCE, three have already had enough.

If I have to (and thanks!).

Sorry Alpin, I’ve not got any yet as I only just took ownership yesterday. Will take some soon and post some up but if you look at the link (for OxfordT5 also mentioned ^) in my earlier post you’ll see how the rails are set up.

We have the rear bench that can slide forward or backward on these and then a removable two additional captains seats that can go in between the driver/passenger seats and this bench.

When in bed mode, the rear bench slides forward and flattens to make a king size double (using the multiflex board at the back). Our camping pod goes in place of one of the two removable seats directly behind either the drive or passenger seat. We don’t have the two middle seats in for camping duties but they’re in the garage for when we need seven seats.

All perfectly possible as far as I’m aware.

That said I’ve just bought a T5 caravelle that does exactly what you describe. We’ve the multiflex board to make the rear bench into a bed; a kitchen pod (gas hob and sink); side awning, swivel front seats and two additional caravelle seats bringing the total to seven.

This guy[/url] installs sliding rails to panel vans or kombi conversions and comes highly recommended as I understand.

EDIT, although it would appear he’s not that local to you!

We’re picking up our new van next week and I can’t wait.

We had a T4 caravelle for a couple of years and loved the versatility but wanted to go back to just one car. We’ve really missed it so now we’re getting ourselves a new one and this time know exactly what we want. It’s to be a reasonably low mileage 130bhp, speed 2.5tdi T5 caravelle with some trimings, such as the multiflex boards that convert the rear bench into a bed.

This way it’ll be the family car (7 seats with belts, air con, insulated and carpeted) when it needs to be and the camper (swivel seats, bed, awning, kitchen pod, bike rack and table) for the holidays. I’ll post some photos once we’ve got it and have had the inaugural Easter trip!

We’ve stayed at Whitemead a couple of times. It’s slightly tired but great for families and ideal for evening spins out into the forest for me before the wife and I sat down for dinner. The awesome Dowies trails are a few minutes up the road. Whitemead follows a centre parks style setup, with a pool and leisure centre, organised kids activities, shop/restaurant etc. The great part for us is the location with the steam railway round the corner and all of the Forest activities a short drive away. Perrygrove railway, Puzzlewood and Forest of Dean Heritage Centre and the Symonds Yat Butterfly centre are all possible family destinations to pad out rides and walks in the forest.

The pub round the corner is the Fountain Inn – friendly, and good for a no-nonsense meal if you can’t be bothered to cook.

I love the place and we’ll be heading back there this summer….again!

Pik n Mix – I used to do similar before teaching. I studied meiofauna (freshwater) 63-1000 microns which included some ostracods at the lower range. After my PhD I decided enough was enough and moved to the macrofauna!

Secondary Science Teacher

When it’s good it’s great, unfortunately I’ll be working for free tomorrow (strike) because too often it’s not and things are getting worse. The number of vacancies in science is scary with huge numbers of newly qualified teachers dropping out of the profession within weeks of starting their new posts. And this after spending £9k training. My school is struggling to appoint for a vacancy and we’re 7 weeks into the school term.

A lot less than I used to before I started teaching.

Matt_outandabout – do you have a website? I’m looking to get more outdoor learning at my school (specifically in science) and would be interested to learn about your work. I’m based in the south of England but would love to hear more about what you do north of the border?

Sympathies with the OP but let’s get this in perspective. There were some 600 odd people racing on the Saturday
how long was the course? I hear talk of 30-40 minute laps so 10-12kms?
A measurment of ‘riders per km’ at any one time would put some of this in perspective. (ie you count soloists as one and pairs or complete teams as one rather than total entries) Indeed I have read this figure ‘advertised’ in the blurb of I forget which 24 hour race last summer. In my experience the ‘nicest’ races are usually the ones with a more spaced out field.

It’s around 10km, and there were 120 four-person teams, 50 pairs and 80 solo-ists. That makes approx 25 racers per km. How does that compare to other events?

It certainly felt pretty quiet [edit!] after the first two laps or so of madness when everyone was bunched. Of course the course has a good proportion of tight singletrack.

Sympathies with the OP but let’s get this in perspective. There were some 600 odd people racing on the Saturday (not all at once as the bulk are in teams of four) and it may well be that a few of them do not understand some of the conventions of overtaking, but I for one thought that the behaviour was very reasonable & better than in previous years. Of course there will always be the odd idiot, and in the early stages of the event I’m sure some racers are a bit hot headed and the field has not yet spread out.

Obviously incidents such as the OP’s are really unfortunate but the course is quite technical in places and I can well imagine a few accidents will occur. One of the more serious happened off the jump next the the start/finish line which was quickly removed straight afterwards!

Because when it comes to getting a job, if there isn’t one in the school where you trained, you’re at a disadvantage. Also depends on your training school.

I trained at two schools during my SCITT course, like most University PGCEs, and have a job at a third. I’m not trying to get into an argument but it’s interesting to see the perspective of someone in the sector.

Apply for a PGCE rather than try to do it through a school.

Why’d you say that boxelder?

I’d say the SCITT (School Centred Initial Teacher Training for those that don’t know) option has it about right.

You get straight into school and start teaching which is what you need. You also receive training as per a Uni based PGCE and qualify with a standard PGCE at the end of the day. It’s not an easy route but, upon reflection, a good one.

Fair enough, but probably not a good enough reason to relocate (unless already in Wales obviously) to Wales to complete a PGCE. If you’ve not got through your NQT within five years of a PGCE then I maintain you’re probably not going to.

Highclimber……if you didn’t complete your NQT within five years I suspect you’d be unlikely to ever complete it???

The NQT isn’t called the Nearly Quit Teaching year for nothing!

As the others have said, it’s tough. I was in your position 12 months ago and enrolled in a SCITT course. Your main options are GTP (paid but hitting the ground running), SCITT (School based but you pay) and PGCE (Uni based, you pay).

Biology doesn’t command as much of a grant as the other sciences but can cover up to the course fees.

It’s been the hardest year’s work I’ve done to date (including writing up my PhD) and will continue to be hard for the foreseeable but, and it’s a big but, definitely the most rewarding. I’ve got a job for next year [NQT] but there’s no guarantee of employment at the end of it. Of course as long as Mr Gove keeps chasing people out of the job there will continue to be vacancies but that’s an argument for another thread!

Good luck with your decision.

Edit: I’d also recommend getting in to school to see how things are run. For me it was a big shock going back into a school some 20 odd years after I’d last left!

tomhoward – Member
What northwind said. But I’ve never got as far as trying it. I’m very happy with using pens and my control is good so if it aint broke….

+ another 1.

I’m lucky to have good control and, while it’s been offered in the past, I’ve never fancied trying one. The only benefit I can see for me would be discretion when doing an ‘injection’.

The improvement I’m waiting for is a viable continuous blood glucose monitor option, so that I can tell what my sugars are without a separate test. I know they are available but at the moment they’re unreliable and prohibitively expensive.

falkirk-mark – Member
Barstewards phoned me at 08:45 and woke me up to tell me they never had one.

This !

ac282 – Member
When/What show was the bit on 5 Live? I was hoping to catch it on iplayer
There was a short segment that happened to be on as I was reading the thread. Probably not worth hunting for it really.

But “if” I was sad enough to search was it on the drivetime show, and if so what day? I and a few others were interviewed for it so I wouldn’t mind a listen! 😀

Calling ac282……

When/What show was the bit on 5 Live? I was hoping to catch it on iplayer

timmys, can’t see that’d be a problem as the first half of the day was spent tackling each obstacle one at a time. The most tiring thing was pushing back up for another go. We only did one full lap at the end by which time I was knackered.

As one of the “more trail, all mountain riders” from today’s session can I echo what simonbea said above. It was great opportunity to ride round a truly awesome track with a couple of great coaches and a good mix of people.

Some of those obstacles would challenge most riders and the track doesn’t let up, it’s either up or down most of the way with little chance to catch your breath. How they get round several laps in sub-12min times on bikes with seatposts high and little travel I’m amazed, it’s given me serious respect for those athletes.

It was nice to talk to Matt from the Essex Cycling Development Team about their plans for the site. He is really behind plans to maintain it as far as possible. However, even on these coached sessions there have been a few mishaps, one guy today will be heading to hospital, so don’t let the camera fool you.

At the end we were interviewed by Stephen Chittenden (not sure of the spelling) from Radio 5Live for a programme they’re doing on the Olympic Legacy. Have a listen out on the 30th November!

I stayed at Bluestone in March and did the ridge ride along the Preselli Hills from Rosebush. It was, and had been, dry but even based on that I can’t say I’d really recommend it, especially with a younger rider. It’s pretty cut up, boggy in places and hard going at the best of times.

I also rode round Canaston Woods in the evening which had some nice singletrack sections but not much to string together, more suitable for a quick spin before dinner!

My wife rode with our toddler round the Llys-Y-Fran reservoir family trail while I did the Preselli route, but it’s not really much of a challenge and pretty short.

The best option would be, as others have said, to do some road routes, enjoy the coastline and maybe do Brechfa on the way there and on the way back for a trail centre experience (if you’re heading east!).

At the outside of your allowed time are the Forest of Dean, Cannock (Stile Cop), Cwmcarn and the North Downs. Woburn, Aston and Swinley are a bit closer (to Oxford). There is some great riding to be had around the Chilterns but most of it needs to be earned.

No:

The cost of the renewal (which had gone up considerably), the alarm installation and the maintenance contract was going to be in the £2k ballpark

3 bed semi in Oxford.