Somebody Else's Day

Well it finally happened; all trains cancelled while I waited in hope at Haymarket followed by a phone call telling me school was closed again anyway. Nothing else for it but to report to my alternative, walking-distance school.

It only takes that kind of opportunity to realise just how much is unwritten and unsaid in schools; it is simply "known" by the staff. Despite a beautifully planned and laid out daily diary handed to me, it was the tiny things that left me feeling disorientated.

Not knowing the names of children in a class immediately puts you at a disadvantage, along with not knowing where anything is, the daily routines of breaks, lunches and so on. Even the old "where to sit in the staffroom" never goes away, along with finding the balance between being the "talks all the time" annoyance and the "says nothing" weirdo...

Still, I was well looked after and enjoyed my day. Particularly fun was finding out that one pupil's favourite nativity song was "The Wheels on the Bus" and discussing "saving the firemen" with another before clicking that it was actually the environment we were saving after all...