I’m having a hard time trying to inspire my children with this morning’s literacy lesson. Ellie had her sixth birthday party yesterday and it seems everyone was there. Now they’re all tired and grumpy. I’m desperately thinking of ways to spark their interest, when Chloe shouts out: “There’s a cat!” Suddenly, all the children come to life and surround this large, grey, friendly puss who eventually settles down and goes to sleep on a big, soft rhinoceros in the library corner. By this point, literacy hour is over.

Tuesday

With the children more alive this morning, our literacy session is going well. We’re interacting together beautifully when Nathan interrupts:

“There’s that cat again!” Everyone crowds round, strokes him, and before long he’s purring contentedly on the squashy rhino. “What’s he called?”

asks Callum. General discussion ensues. I decide on an impromptu maths lesson on tally marks, accompanied by a quick introduction to democracy and voting. The end result is that “Glitter” is left to sleep while we tiptoe out to assembly.

Wednesday

I abandon the planned lesson and we write acrostics using the word Glitter.

We have a good discussion on capital letters, phonics, describing words and doing words. I also talk about question words and question marks as the children keep asking: “Where’s Glitter?”, “Why isn’t Glitter here?” and “Do you think Glitter will come today?”

Thursday

Literacy hour passes with no sign of Glitter. We’re in the middle of the main teaching activity in numeracy; the children are silently writing on their whiteboards when we hear a loud miaow at the door. Glitter quickly settles on the rhino, and the children soon get back to their whiteboards.

At lunchtime I pinch another tin of tuna from the kitchen. I must remember to stop off at the supermarket after school. It’s tuna sandwiches for lunch tomorrow and there’ll be trouble if there’s none left.

Friday

It’s a Glitter-free morning. Literacy and numeracy go well. Glitter joins us at about 2pm. I offer him his tuna. I bought the supermarket’s own brand rather than the top-price tuna used in the school kitchen. He turns his nose up at it. I realise we have our very own version of Six Dinner Sid, which is what we, of course, read at hometime.

Pam Thomson teaches the key stage 1 class at West Raynham CE primary, a two-class school in Norfolk. If you have a diary you would like to share (of no more than 550 words), write to TES Friday, Admiral House, 66-68 East Smithfield, London E1W 1BX or email friday@tes.co.uk. We pay for every article we publish