The Wind Blew

Outdoor play this morning saw a cluster of five-year-olds watching in astonishment as a piece of paper from the writing trolley was whisked back and forth about the playground by the unusually strong wind. They gave chase, but to no avail; the direction of its flight kept on changing. And then, suddenly, an upward gust caught the paper and it flew higher, higher, above the roof, over the school buildings and away! Everyone simply stared.

Pom-poms and streamers were in high demand; a toy pram blew over and the doll inside skittered across the tarmac; and the wind also took one of the more gauzy pieces of fabric from the dressing-up box. I couldn't help being reminded of Pat Hutchins' picture book The Wind Blew, and envisaging a similar scenario on Scarborough seafront, the wind mixing up all the things it had taken before suddenly flinging them down and blowing out to sea.

No such scene greeted me, however, when I finally made it down to the seafront this afternoon after finishing my planning. Despite living about three minutes' walk from the beach, it was the first time I'd seen the sea in about two weeks. Like they say, doing a PGCE does keep you busy! I didn't find any evidence that the wind had repented of its ways, however. I wonder if those half-finished drawings from school really did blow out to sea...