“Now, King Rat, you come in when you hear Rat-Trap.”  I say.  King Rat looks confused.

“You know, by the Boomtown Rats.” King Rat shrugs and shakes his head.  Youthfully.

“The Boomtown Rats.  As in I Don’t Like Mondays?”  Nope.

“Bob Geldof?” I try.  Bingo.  I can see the mists clearing. King Rat smiles.

“You mean Peaches’ Dad!” he says.

I raise my eyebrows and look at him with withering disbelief.

It is ten minutes before the start of the staff panto.  The children are out to play, the Head has donned his frock and we are hiding in the ICT suite as I run through the musical cues, cobbled together on Spotify the evening before.  I imagine that Danny Boyle did something very similar for the Opening Ceremony.

I love working alongside young teachers.  They have energy and enthusiasm; infectious even to us veterans.  They see the school with fresh eyes.  They spot opportunities where we see things that didn’t quite work when we tried them twenty years ago.  But they can make you feel so very old.

“Now I need some music to play for the scene when the rats keep stealing Sarah’s cooking ingredients.  Any ideas?”  I say.

“Gangnam Style,” suggests Miss Sugarsprinkles.  There are nods and a murmur of approval.

I click on the Search box. “How do you spell that?” I say.

They raise their eyebrows and look at me with withering disbelief.