* Scott had toiled for months learning his initial letter sounds with little apparent progress. But, working on a sheet that required him to colour pictures of objects beginning with the letter “m”, he was neatly turning a crescent moon yellow.
“What ‘m’ word are you colouring at the moment, Scott?” I asked.
He turned to me with a broad smile and replied: “Banana.”
BEVERLY WEST
* I decided an explanation was needed when the word “strident” appeared in a sntence while reading with my Year 6s. I asked if anyone knew what it meant. As expected, there was no response. Then Peter, one of the better-read pupils, raised a tentative hand.
“I think it means shouting loudly while taking giant steps.”
PATRICK McDERMOTT
* I received the following absence note from the parent of a boy in my form.
“Dear Teacher, I am sorry that Ian was away yesterday but he had dierr, dior, dyer...the runs.”
JULIA WHYTE
