Wednesday evening

. . . and no staff meeting. As S said in the note that came round informing us of this, 'no grumbling now'! And no staff meeting next week either because of the Christmas Fair. Oh, dear, oh, dear, what disappointment! How will we cope?

I had such fun with the this afternoon. Hand and foot reindeer it was, and they had obviously not come across this before. I played it very straight, while talking and modelling.

Right, first you take your shoe off.
(puzzled looks)

You put it on a piece of beige paper and draw round it. Then you put your name inside the shoe shape.
(slightly comprehending nods - they know all about putting their name on their work and so they should, they've been nagged - I mean reminded - about it often enough)

Oh, look, you have some bits of paper left - what do you think you could do with that?
(lots of 'helpful' suggestions but we finally got there)

Yes, in the recycling bag! Well done.
Now you need an orange sheet. Draw round one hand, then draw round the other. That's harder so you can ask a friend to help, if you like.
(frantic modelling about how to Make Best Use Of Paper So We Don't Waste Any)

Oh, look, you have some bits of paper left - what do you think you could do with that?
(better response this time - they do pay attention sometimes)

OK, now you have to stick the hand shapes to the foot shape like this.
(did so and showed the results. Light dawning on little faces and the magic of Christmas began all over again for me and, I hope, for them too)

Now - what else do you think we need to do?

And so it went on, to mounting excitement. And when they tried it themselves, they did a fantastic job. This is where I got the idea. We don't do the smile, the eyes are black circles with eyelashes and the antlers are stuck behind the head, not in front - it looks better that way! And now one of my sets of windows is covered with Rudolphs of various shapes and sizes . . . quite disconcerting they can be too, so I don't look at them too often!! The children think they are brilliant!

The second full rehearsal went well too. Fingers crossed!

And tomorrow looks like being quite a normal day - apart from the pantomime in the morning that is.