Thursday

Well, I have to say, this is the weirdest start to a term I have ever had in all my long teaching career.  By yesterday afternoon I had seventeen, one having gone home at lunchtime and the rest still off from the day before or newly off from the start of the day.  Poor littlies, they must be feeling really horrible.  I wonder what today will bring.

The rather unorthodox morning sorted itself out quite well.  We are lucky enough to have a library attached to the school with a door from the library to the old staffroom.  This was originally there so that the library staff could shate 'facilities' with the school, but it has been jolly useful, helping to create and maintain a link that has been of great benefit to us at school.  Once a fortnight each class has time in the library with a librarian.  The smallest children look at books, return and borrow and as they progress up through the school they learn library and study skills.

So I was able to take my class into the library after registration for Reading Revelry, then into J's bay while her class was in the library and then into A's bay while her class was in the library.  Then it was into the hall for a few action games before assembly, violins being over and finished by then.  Thank goodness for memory sticks!
And it was worth it!  I now have a super built in cupboard in my bay which is large enough to contain all the toys, construction kits, boxes of books, etc, that were previously just cluttering up a corner.
After play we all set to, sorting, reorganising, dusting, and generally making sure everything was where it ought to be before putting it away.  Things were dusty, etc, but I was very pleased at how little was in the wrong box.  My children do put things awar very efficiently after a choosing time - there's no bunging things in the nearest box.

However, teaching is a bit difficult and muddled right now.  It's the start of the new term so what I had planned was all new stuff for a new theme.  I am horribly aware that I'm going to have to teach it all over again when most of the class is back.  What a waste of time.  But what else can I do.  I've revamped my planning and it is full of ifs, buts and maybes but what can you do - that's just the way it is.

Silly photo - I just like it!