May 11, 2012

Hurlingham School

Hurlingham School is located in Putney, a short tube ride from Victoria Station. I love that each suburb is like a village with narrow streets and pretty houses; generally a mix of Victorian and Edwardian. I imagine the drawbacks of living in such close quarters are a lack of parking and perhaps privacy, but the High Streets are gorgeous and the convenience of being able to wander down to the shops and restaurants would outweigh the downside.

The students at Hurlingham wear the most beautiful powder blue blazers and sweet berets. Emily and I were welcomed in and taken to the staff room to wait for the morning assembly to finish. My first session was speaking to the Year 5 and 6 students. They were very quiet and extremely well behaved. They asked a lot of great questions and I enjoyed having time to explore not only Alice-Miranda but some writing tips as well.

After a quick cup of tea I met the Year 3 students, then Year 4. They were both lively groups and there were plenty of volunteers to play the roles of Jacinta and Alice-Miranda when it came time for some drama. The children knew quite a lot about Australia – although it’s funny that our claim to fame more often than not seems to be the huge range of deadly creatures that might at any given time inflict a deadly wound. I have explained to the children I’ve met on numerous occasions now that although Australia does boast an extensive range of nasty critters, we generally don’t have to avoid Taipans, sharks and crocodiles on a daily basis.

I have some Alice-Miranda caps that I’ve been giving out to students. The little girl I chose to receive the cap yesterday was terribly sweet and what I adored was that when she came out to get it, the other children were unanimous in their support. They were all congratulating her and telling her how cute it looked – the children were so kind to each other. I loved that.

The Golden Treasury once again supplied books for the children to purchase and I signed a great big box before Emily and I headed back to the hotel. We got off the train and it was raining quite heavily. I hope that we get to see some lovely Spring weather at some point during our time in the UK.