Holiday Destination: Mauritius

The warm sun shines through the crisp palm trees as I try to lap up the last rays of the day. Golden hour. Mauritius is something else - total relaxation, exotic encounters and delicious treats are just some of the words that come to my mind as I try to put this holiday into words.

STAYING IN MAURITIUS

The hotel was just amazing. We're talking beautifully calm swimming pools, surrounded by lush, green gardens and right of the edge of a beach with a view. The food was incredible too, typically Mauritian (I mean, who doesn't love a curry?) and totally delicious. It was the perfect base for lazy beach days and being at the north tip of the island meant that those days were filled with sunshine. We also made the most out of the all-inclusive activities, which meant daily fitness classes, a glass bottomed boat ride to see the turtles and chilled pedalo rides across the tranquil, turquoise ocean.

EXPLORING THE ISLAND

We spent a lot of the 2 weeks visiting and exploring the African island via excursions and local transport. The buses in Mauritius are super cheap and allowed us to visit the local towns, as well as Port Louis, without spending more than £2 at one time!

Our first excursion was a tour of the south; visiting the Sacred Lake and Hindu temple for a traditional blessing, Chamarel coloured sands, the Black River waterfall and La Vanille - where we had the most incredible tortoise feeding experience. We were very lucky that the sun was shining all day (the south can be temperamental!), meaning that we got the most out of every location. We spent another morning exploring the Botanical Gardens, which were beautiful, even in the winter.

Our favourite day by far was when we visited Casela Nature Park - in the west of the island. If you are an animal lover, this is the place to go. When entering the park, it became clear that animal welfare was top priority and the space in the park was incredible; a proper safari experience. There are plenty of activities and experiences to do here so we planned our day tightly; lion interaction, safari truck, giraffe feeding experience and the Tulawaka rollercoaster - as well as observing the other animals and visiting the petting farm. The lion interaction was something we decided to do based on watching them and after talking to the lion keepers and what an experience it was! When else are we ever going to get the chance to be up and personal with such an incredible animal? Only in Africa! I would highly recommend this experience and the park to anyone visiting Mauritius.

Mauritius was the perfect place for us to get to know a different region and for anyone thinking of an Indian Ocean holiday where you can explore an island, get to know the locals, as well as enjoy a 5* hotel experience, well - this is it.

Until the next one x

NQT year - done...

...and what a year it's been!



Last summer, I accepted my first teaching role in an Early Years classroom - a year group I had never taught and one that, hopefully, I am now never going to leave.

The pressure as an NQT can be slightly overwhelming, particularly at the beginning. Glossing over social media posts, wondering what you should be planning and updating for the new year and being completely oblivious to what lies ahead. It is scary. Even as I write this now, during the first week of the holidays, I'm already wondering exactly what I should be doing in order to be the most prepared for the upcoming academic year.

If you have just accepted your first role, these are my top tips for you:

• Get to know the curriculum for your year group. I updated myself on the EYFS curriculum last year and although this CPD was ongoing for most of the year, it set me with expectations and ideas for baseline assessments, topics and classroom areas.
• Get the basics sorted first. The first thing I did was set up class lists, printed name tags for drawers and pegs and thought carefully about my classroom set-up (which changed at least every half-term!). Everything else waited and this was fine.
• Don't worry about getting into your classroom! Although I went in for 2 days last year and will probably be going in this year, it's not the end of the world if you don't. Last year, I got my displays backed and re-arranged the classroom but during your first couple of weeks, you will find your feet and find what works best for you anyway!
• Try to relax and do something you enjoy. I often find myself lost in the holidays with everyone else at work and only school work to think about. Luckily, I'm going away for 2 weeks (woo hoo!) but I will definitely make sure to get some Netflix in, read books I've been meaning to read all year and catch up with friends.

I have also learnt that it's completely okay to just do what works best for you and your class. Use resources you find online if they work and are relevant, drop a lesson if it's really not working and ask the children for their ideas.

My NQT year has been a rollercoaster of emotions but incredibly rewarding. Realising that you finally have your own class, planning lessons and topics that you enjoy and watching your class make progress is completely worth all of the hard work that comes with it.

Holiday Destination: Monaco

I've just come back from an incredible 4 days in Monaco and crash landed in what feels like the middle of November. Take me back to sunshine, cocktails and people watching outside a casino any day! 

There is so much to see and do in Monaco, we struggled to fit it all in. We chose the week to go primarily for the Top Marques car festival, which happened to be on our final morning, so still had 3 and a half days to explore the A-listers hot spot on the French Riviera.

PEOPLE WATCH

If you can't people watch in Monaco, then when can you?! Grab a space near the front at Café de Paris, order a banana split (seriously good stuff) and watch the cars drive past. You can sit there for hours and watch the world go by.

SIGHTSEEING 

We set out on our second day for a whole day of sightseeing and thoroughly enjoyed it. Walking through the back streets led us to incredible views, quiet parks and unique shops. My top places to visit would be the cathedral, the casino, the Port de Fontvieille and the palace.

VIEWS FOR DAYS

The gardens and photogenic spots in Monaco are second to none and will definitely be adding to a few new Instagram posts over the next few days. We visited the Jardin Exotqiue and Jardin St Martin, both easily accessible and completely instagrammable.

SHOPPING

The shops in Monaco really speak for themself. From Chanel to Cartier, D&G to Dior and Zara just to add into the mix, I loved going around all of the shops hunting for my dream purchase. I found myself a handbag in The Kooples that I just couldn't resist so it ended up coming with me! If you fancy a luxury weekend spree, Monte Carlo pretty much has you covered.

The final night in Monaco was definitely a night to remember. The night started in Buddha Bar with an incredible meal and cocktails, followed by a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the casino and ended with drinks at Café de Paris. The casino was beautiful inside - with marble bar areas, a jazz band setting the atmosphere, hand painted ceiling detail and enough men in tux's to kit out the extras for the next 4 James Bond films. If you're in Monaco, fancy dressing up for a night and having a bit of fun, the casino is definitely the place to go.