I was REALLY impressed with all things Invercargill this week. It was my first trip there but I really hope it won't be my last - it's just such a great place! Here's why:

1. The Invercargill Licensing Trust. I'm reliably informed that New Zealand used to have prohibition until the mid-1940's. Then, with a vote boosted by soldiers returning from World War Two, Invercargill (as well as some other NZ communities) decided to allow the sale of alcohol but only through a community-owned monopoly - the ILT. The magic of this is that all the profits from the sale of alcohol in Invercargill are pumped back into the community - building world class sporting facilities, funding outstanding education projects, sponsoring Olympic-hopefuls form the area, and so on. In fact, they tend to fund about 500 organisations per year. Wouldn't it be great if this was the case throughout the world - community reinvestment rather than private profit?

2. This is OUR city and we're proud of it. I spent 5 happy years working in Berwick upon Tweed, the border town that has changed hands 13 times between England and Scotland (at the moment it is English, though their football team still play in the Scottish leagues). To outsiders, Berwick was a place too far - 100 mile round trip from Morpeth (where the county council is based). Of course Berwick teachers were always expected to do the opposite journey without hesitation. So, when we began running courses and conferences in Berwick itself, the sense of ownership was palpable. 95% of teachers and 100% of the support staff attended at least 15 hours additional training voluntarily and in their own time within the first 18 months. As for Invercargill, I reckon the place is like Berwick on steroids! The sense of ownership, of pride, and of welcome to 'our' home was unmistakeable.

3. I Love Teaching conference. The 2-day event I was in town for was simply great. It was well organised, a whole lot of fun and filled with some superb people. There was the lovely, smiley Marlene cuddling and heckling people in equal measure, the charismatic and riotous organising committee (most of whom seemed to be called Alan) wearing some very inventive t-shirts, and lots of lovely tweeters who managed to smile and look interested even though they must have been tip-tapping on their laptops the whole time.

The icing on the cake: meeting Annie. She and I worked at the same school for deaf children in the late 80's (when she was a nun!). I never realised there was so much fun to be had catching up on gossip that is more than twenty years old!