We are...

Back to school to sort out the mess on the desk. You can get so much done when it's quiet.

This rock was an end of term activity, but standing looking at the playground today, I realised that it might be my favourite part of the year. One of our trips had been to Easdale, where slate had been dug out of deep pits by the Atlantic shores. It's a place steeped in history and with that tangible sadness that comes to a place where its harsh industry has failed and finished, but left scars on the land and its people.

We all went to beach to find our special rock, or piece of slate, to make our own story stone. As is the way with our pupils, we returned with some of the largest slabs possible. Parents were delighted. If we had pooled resources, I imagine we could have re-roofed the school. We commandeered this beauty for the common good. It wouldn't fit in the school bag, but a good attempt was made!

There was a discussion about all the things we had done over the year, and the stone records what we had become through our learning. There it is, all on a stone. It's a reminder, and an encouragement, that what we learn has lasting changes. It has the power to transform us.

(Oh, and for the eagle eyed- the trusty Canon 30D wouldn't work. Well it needed the battery which I left on the charger. At home. Thank goodness for school cameras. But you have no idea how many I had to look through till I found one charged.)