Letter from England Two

Hi everybody.

  We had a busy day yesterday with visits to two schools and meetings.   We went to visit the boys and girls in Blakeney and Pillowell Primary Schools.  The schools have the same principal or what they call head teacher.  His name is Mr Stevenson.  He splits his day between the two schools.  We took lots of pictures of the schools and will show you at assembly when we get home.   There are lots of things similar and some things different between our schools and theirs.  They, too, were hoping for lots of snow to play in!  And maybe even a snow day!   The pupils were very polite and gave us a tour of their classrooms and playground.  One of the schools even had chickens outside!   Our project is all about myths and legends.  Pillowell school did a drama about King Arthur and the Holy Grail while Blakeney told the story about how Robin Hood met Maid Marion. We will put on a drama about an Irish myth when they come visit us in March 2014.   All the teachers from the different countries enjoyed the performances.  At one stage I could not concentrate, however, because there was a lovely smell coming from the kitchen.  The school cook was preparing lunch for the pupils.  All the children can, if they want, have a hot meal for lunch.   You might also be jealous that they have one hour for lunch.  Alas, they start earlier and finish later than us so we do the same amount of time in school. Which would you prefer?   After our school visits, we took a bus to a hotel in the Forest of Dean.  In this forest , there are wild boars or pigs.  Unfortunately, I did not see any but I saw lots of signs of their existence especially where they have dug up the ground with their snouts/noses looking for food.   It is a beautiful area here.  We have enjoyed our visit and have already learned a lot about schools across Europe in Italy, Poland, Hungary, Sweden and of course England.   We fly back to Ireland on Tuesday evening from Bristol airport with my airline Ryanair!!   See you all bright and early on Wednesday morning.  Hope everyone is trying their best and behaving well.   Mr Ryan