Baker’s Beacon Blog – Week 7
21 October 2022
Dear Parents,
I was delighted to visit Reception R this week. Mrs Michelle Pickard clearly thought I had done a passable job a few weeks ago when, dressed as a wolf, I read a number of stories to the class that had been selected on a ‘wolf’ theme. My last school did not have this age group on site so my previous exposure of reading to Reception age children was over ten years ago with my own sons…and this lack of experience showed..
As I started to read the first page, a voice from the back called out, “I can’t see.” I shifted in my seat a little to make myself more visible to those at the back and carried on reading. Then another voice, this time from the front row, “I can’t see either.” Odd, I thought, were Reception R having some fun with me? I glanced over to Mrs Pickard, who with a wistful, knowing glance of an experienced Early Years educator, made a movement with her hands to indicate that I should have the book open so the words and pictures could be shown to the children. Naïve Mr Baker…I apologised at once, opened the book for all to see and then proceeded to read at an angle, through a wolf mask…not easy…
I was relieved then to be asked back this week and to delve back into my fancy dress box, this time bringing out a ‘fox’ mask, which the boys appeared to thoroughly enjoy. Together with my teacher wife Brigid, we have over 50 years of ‘World Book Days’ and other such events in our respective schools that have required some element of dressing up. The ‘wolf’ and the ‘fox’ are just the start – there is a whole cast of characters in our loft that I will happily inflict on Reception in the year ahead, particularly now I have learnt how to read to them.
Where has that Half Term gone? It’s been seven weeks but there are many parts of the site I have still to explore and countless Beacon idiosyncrasies that I have to understand, learn and implement into my daily practice. Thank you to my colleagues, our boys and you, The Beacon parent community, for making me feel so welcome. It has been a lot of fun already and of course, just the beginning. Have a great Half Term break.
Best
Nick Baker
