Fair-ly Good.

We are having the most glorious September. August is obviously not the best time for the school holidays as it invariably has the worst weather of the summer months.

I've had a really satisfying day in school today. Going with the latest plan of following the children's interests I continued on the 'Fair' theme. First thing in the morning, after looking at a photos of fairground rides I let them use anything we had in the classroom to make their own models of fairground rides. They all worked really well together and came up with some imaginative ideas. Lots of problem solving and teamwork. Later they drew maps of fairgrounds and the literacy task of labelling everything just flowed along. I love it when they are all happily engrossed and eager. That's what school should be about.

Going home this evening the setting sun turned the sea silver. Last night Peter was out with the gig club rowing out by Appledore (just out of sight on the left hand side of the photo). He said it was so nice watching the sun setting over the sea. Once my back is sorted I'll be down there like a shot.

At the moment the gigs are kept down at Appledore but next weekend they will be moving into this building, an old boat shed right by the river in Barnstaple. (Photo taken late after the fair last weekend.) They had been negotiating with the sea cadets to share their premises which are also on this tributary but better situated right next to a slipway but the gigs are too big and would have filled their boat yard. From this building , at Mermaid Cross, they will have to walk the gigs up to the roundabout (where I was standing to take the photo) and down Rolle Quay to the slipway. The exterior of the building has been completely restored by someone who was going to turn it into a cafe but that plan has fallen through. I don't know if it was just a lack of funds or if the building regulations for a cafe were incompatible with the regulations for a historic building but it does benefit the gig club.