Romania

I now have a beginning picture of Romania ... in the north it is more mountainous that in the centre and south. I picture a house on the top of a hill, surrounded by hills, an hour's walk from a main road ... Lots of land for children to play in ... all the houses in the town with large plots of land. Children leaving home to go to colleges in nearby towns at 14, four years of college before exams and university. Hot summers and winters where snow sometimes falls so much that it gets almost shoulder high. Children have to swim through the snow, pushing the snowdrifts out of the way, to get to school. Summers where all the local children have barbecues in the hills, the older ones chasing the little ones who pinch the sausages ...

I had a lovely lunchtime conversation with a couple of year 11 girls yesterday. It was really interesting, and poignant, to hear their tales from home ... and it was moving to be thanked for my time, to sit and talk with them. It was such a pleasure for me, and reveals the side of school life that we don't get to see very often. Pupils do appreciate it when teachers can have a moment to sit and talk about their lives. And so often we are all too busy, rushing around getting things done, to actually stop and talk. That's why whenever it happens, it stands out.