Author: David-Watkins

David Watkins lives in Devon in the UK with his wife, two sons, ridiculous dog and psychotic cat. He has currently released four novels and a short story. Each book is well rated and reviewed on Amazon and beyond. His most recent release is The Exeter Incident, from D&T Publishing. "Great monsters and dynamic characters make this brutal, bloody, brilliant novel an essential read. I'll never see Exeter in the same light again!" - Tim Lebbon, The Last Storm (praise for The Exeter Incident) "...gut twisting scenes...” 4* Joe X Young, Gingernuts of Horror (The Devil's Inn) "..a damn entertaining read.." - DLS Reviews (The Devil's Inn) "Watkins writes with a real flow for tension." - Steve Stred, Kendall Reviews "Great horror! I couldn't put the book down" 4.5*, Pamela Kinney, Ismellsheep.com (The Original's Return) He hates referring to himself in the third person, but no-one else is going to write this for him. Dave can be found on Twitter so drop by and say hello @joshfishkins, where you'll find him ranting about horror, the British education system and Welsh rugby, but not usually at the same time.

Lesson Observations

Following on from last week's musings on Performance Management, let's take a look at the other bit to PM - having a lesson observed. Lesson observations are weird. They are undoubtedly nerve wracking, but they shouldn't be. See, the problem is teachers work in isolation most of the time. Sure we have the 30 (or... Continue Reading →

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Performance Management (PM)

Ah, is there any other two word phrase designed to invoke a mixture of fear, disgust and feelings of inadequacy in a teacher than 'performance management'? The process involves looking at your performance (clues in the name!) over the past academic year. It is meant to look at the training you recieved, your job description,... Continue Reading →

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The grind starts…

So I had some feedback from people1 reading this and as a result, I'll do less footnotes this week, promise. Okay, with that out of the way, let's get on with the grind. You've been back in school three weeks. What's that? No, really, you have. The summer seems a lifetime ago (and it was),... Continue Reading →

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Open Evening and other shenanigans

Ah open evening - one of the highlights of the academic year1. Children come to look around 'big school' and get excied about the range of activities teachers have cobbled together to show them. These activities are designed to get the children to be students, so they are invariably exciting and fun.2 In some cases,... Continue Reading →

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The first week

A school year starts something like this: Day one: 9am start (earlier if you're really unlucky). You've just had the worst night of sleep you've had in the last six weeks, possibly ever. You turn up early, because you want to set a good impression1. The staff room/hall/wherever you're meant to meet is full of... Continue Reading →

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Last Days

No, this isn't a review of the splendid Adam Nevill book... Today is my last day at a place I have worked since January 2005. I have taught for 31 years, so two thirds of my career has been in one place. To say today has be emotional would be an understatement of biblical proportions.... Continue Reading →

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Fantasycon 2024

I love Fantasycon. It's an amazing experience, full of friendly faces and like minded people where I go to recharge my writer battery. I haven't written much in the last year. Firstly, work has been kicking my arse and secondly, I've been editing The Original's Rage (out 15th November! Preorders available here). After a weekend... Continue Reading →

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