Poetry is like a piece of your mind,
Once you're joined it never leaves you.
It's something that you discover as you go along,
And you can never predict what comes next.
You can't be told what to write for a poem,
As it's yours, and it only belongs to you.
It can describe your emotions and feelings,
And it can be a story in itself.
Using the words, you can create a picture,
Of anything you decide.
Poetry isn't rhyme, it's word you can use
to find a meaning of your own.
Without your confidence in me,
I wouldn't know how amazing poetry is.
I wouldn't be able to write this poem,
And realise how to paint a picture with words.

Laura Evans, July 1997

Hello everyone, the poem, left, is a present, written for me by Laura who joined my class in September 1993. In 1995 she went to upper juniors and left me, 1997 she went to senior school. I was amazed and very touched when she brought it to me on the last day of primary school. Laura was crying, completely overcome at the prospect of leaving primary school. I have put it to head my Home page because somehow it epitomizes what teaching (for me) is all about: facilitating a child's education in a way that it means something to them.