Every year, you promise yourself that this time things will be different. You will do everything you plan to do, go where you want to go, and make the most of your time off. And yet, hard as we try, there are still things we completely fail to do. Things like this.

Get organised

Every July you promise yourself that this will be the year you organise that cupboard in your classroom, that you won’t clear your desk on to a shelf mentally labelled “file in September” and that you really will sort your resources into termly labelled boxes. In truth, you legged it out of school on the bell and have no intention of going back until you have to. 

Remember a gift for everyone

Throughout the year you picked up thoughtful gifts for your teaching assistant and year group partners. You wrapped those trinkets up in soft tissue paper and wrote poignant messages in cards about how wonderful it’s been working with them. But did you remember to buy the site manager a bottle of beer for sorting out the milky sink smell last week? Did you get something for the amazing lunchtime supervisor who always bails you out on lunch duty? The shame is real.

Book a nice holiday in advance

Of course, booking holidays in advance is cheaper and, of course, you intended to do just that. But then school got in the way and the thought of a six-week summer break seemed so remote that you never quite got around to it. And now you realise that you can’t actually afford school holiday-priced holidays as there are no flights, no deals and not even a decent Airbnb left to hire out. And so you realise you’ll be spending the summer hanging out with other teacher friends, talking about teaching and trying to avoid the hordes of children that seem to be everywhere. 

Sort your house out

A teacher’s home takes a backseat in term time, so with so much time off, and having forgotten to book a holiday, you have big plans for your humble abode. But then things get in the way, like watching telly. You become less sure of your DIY skills than you thought you were. And wouldn’t that money be better spent on a decent night out in the sunshine?

I am sure there are more you can add to the list. But even though not doing all these things is less than ideal, they are less important than the things you hopefully will remember to do: that thing that you enjoy doing so much. Don’t put it off. This August, schedule lots of time for the things that you love the most.

Alice Edgington is head of school at St Stephen’s Infant School in Canterbury