Today we are writing about school
Where to start
It feels very far away and my memory is fading
I do not remember the building
Or the noise and smell
I would imagine I found it hard
All the intrusions
But then again nowhere was truly safe
Alice makes notes
Looks at my face
Twelve years I spent, learning the rules
Trying to fit in
I never did
I enjoyed the lessons
Writing down information as if it were the key to success
I enjoyed the silence of exams
When everybody’s heads were bowed
Concentrating, the way I thought school should be
Not the laughter and mischief other children used to enjoy
I do remember the bells
How they punctuated my day
Beginning to end, every hour
I dreaded the last bell
The one that signalled it was time to go home
A place I also choose not to remember
Nobody asked me how my day was
What I was learning
What I enjoyed
What I hated
I existed in a vacuum
An unhappy void
I hear Alice’s pencils scraping across the page
I don’t want her to ever dislike learning
So I stop remembering the past
It is best left forgotten
We will make our own school
A place where we are valued
We will learn something new every day
Not by design but by choice
If we stumble across a new word we will look it up
If we see something in the skies we will stop and look
We will get lost in books
Hold hands and skip from breakfast, to lunchtime to tea
And glorious bed time
School is not a place or time or state of being
It is a constant process of opening your mind
Alice draws a picture
Shows it to me
How marvellous I say and she is happy
That is what school should be.
