It hasn't been a good day for my colleague. It started well with the Year 2 team (that's 3 of us) in the staff room marking SATs papers, chortling over mis-spelt words and amusing answers when my friend started to feel unwell. As she has a history of serious medical problems my other team member drove her to the nearby hospital where they decided to keep her in for tests and observations. I went to see her in the hospital straight after school where she was waiting in the MAU to find out if she had to stay in overnight for observation. Not a nice way for her to end the day.
The day itself started with torrential rain outside while the news reporter on the TV talked of drought conditions in the east of the country. The day was mostly rainy which made the occasional sunny spell even more welcome. Gardening club, run by some parents, continued in the rain and I had to smile at a group of Year 1 children whose 'outdoor learning' seemed to consist of skipping in the biggest puddles they could find without even a jumper on. In the afternoon I had been struggling with the Year 3 split as we always shuffle the Year 2 classes together before they move to the junior school. The children need to stay in their friendship groups but there also needs to be an even mix of boys/girls, abilities and children from each class. Factor in also some behavioural problems and 2 sets of twins who need to be in different classes. We did the main split on Wednesday but every time I double checked through the friendship requests I ended up with one child who didn't have any requested friends in their class. I finally got it sorted, printed out letters to give to the children and went and told my class which children they will be with next year. There are usually 1 or 2 parents who are not happy with the split but we do our best. I will find out on Monday morning if anyone is not happy.
