Before school started this morning, I ran down to the corner shop to grab something, a common stop for me two years ago as it was on my way to and from school. It was nice to be in a familiar place again doing what I always did. On the walk back to school, I bumped into one of my former students, one of the year 8s. Not that we teachers have favorites, but if we did, he would have been one of mine. A sweet boy, kind-hearted, good sense of humor, hard worker and very courteous to his fellow classmates. (When I went to the lower school on Tuesday, I walked into a classroom and immediately saw a little boy who was the spitting image of this boy. I asked if he was his little brother and in fact he was!) I vividly remember my first day of school. I was not used to children changing classes in the middle of the day, and someone had already mentioned that on the first day back the bells often didn't work as normal and sometimes went off at the wrong time. The year 6s had just come into the classroom and were finding their seats as the bell continued ringing. I continued seating the children when this boy politely said, "Um, Miss, I think we are meant to go outside." Yes, the fire alarm bell went off that very first day, and thankfully he recognized it. I got to walk to school with him and catch up a bit on where he was going to school the next year and his summer plans. Thankful to have a little of that oh-so-rare one-on-one time with him.
The day was full of assemblies, one for each year level to present awards earned in academics and effort. I went to two assemblies, for the students whom I knew, proud to see their accomplishments and spent the rest of my time popping in and out of other classrooms participating in their fun end of year activities. Most of the afternoon was taken up with a whole school assembly honoring the year 8s who were leaving as well as the head and deputy head who were retiring. There were emotional farewells, touching goodbyes, funny songs and a few tears from faculty and pupils alike.
The final bell rang moments after the last assembly as teachers and pupils gathered on the playground to exit the school. It is amazing how eager students always are for summer but on that very last day, they tend to linger. Most of the children were happy for summer, but had a hard time parting with their friends for the seven-week holiday. The year 8s however were a blubbering mess, at least the boys were, as they parted ways, moving on to different upper schools. Sure the girls were crying as well, but I don't think I've ever seen that many teenage boys crying. That to me seemed to be a true testament to the school and the ties it helped to form.
I stood with the teachers, waving goodbye to the students I will probably never see again. As a teacher, saying goodbye to a class is always hard. Don't get me wrong, I love my summers, but after spending a year, loving these children, it is difficult to let them go and all of a sudden not be as big a part of their lives. I am fortunate to work in a tight-knit community where I often see kids and hear about their successes. I am thankful for the glimpses of them that I see and hear throughout the years. But an ocean away...
We teachers did not linger as the children had though. Once they were safely gone, we leapt in our cars and headed for the local pub. Here, we grabbed a quick drink and impatiently waited for the afternoon festivities to begin. The amazing Fiona had outdone herself and created a scavenger hunt of sorts for teams of teachers to complete. There were 70 questions throughout the driving instructions for us to answer along with items to find and specific poses of photos for us to take at all of the neighboring lower schools. There were tricky questions like "What small piece of wood can you eat at?" But, passing the pub called "Splinters" gave it away. There were questions like, "How many animals live at 36 Arbor Way?" Here we found the number plate for the house had two foxes on it. We had to stop at a cemetery and find the death date on a specific headstone. There were questions about what time to catch the morning bus from the bus stop, what was the next train station down, what event was happening at the community center next week, what warning sign is on the telephone pole, what time with the post pick up, what night does the village have yoga, etc. We had to find a feather, a pine cone, a bag of sand, a patience poster made by the pupils, a piece of wild fruit and a stone weighing a specific amount.
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| At Aspley Guise, our photo had to have legs in the air. |
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| At Ridgmont, a group member had to be lifted into the air. |
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| At Husborne Crawley, we had to have twigs. |
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| At Woburn Lower School, we had to have wildflowers |
After the scavenger hunt extravaganza, we gathered at Fiona's house. On my second day in the UK two years ago, Fiona who lived just down the road had called me and invited me for a walk with her and her dog. Fiona had given me a lovely tour of the surrounding villages and she and her dog had given me a lovely tour of the surrounding woods. During my stay here, her old lab had passed away and she had gotten a lab puppy. I loved seeing Ledger again, all grown up, but still a young face, eager to greet us all. Sitting on the floor, I was even lucky enough to get a good kiss on the cheek from him as well. Fiona's family has a lovely home with a great back patio and garden. It was a lovely evening, so we enjoyed eating our fill of food, drinking Pimm's, and visiting. We've still got one more celebration tomorrow, but today's last day of school shenanigans were incredible, and I was honored to be a part of them.
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