WINNER
School Zoo
ZOE CONGO
I love reading and writing but need to make more time to do both as I am busy running my own manufacturing business, writes Zoe. Winning this competition is a wonderful privilege as there are so many talented writers, and I always enjoy reading all the excellent entries to the competitions. Humour is a tricky thing and I’m tickled pink that others enjoyed my efforts to make them smile. I am currently attempting to finish my first novel, however I’m good at finding time to do everything except write, which unfortunately is not funny. Must focus!
Never work with animals or children. As a new primary school teacher, I should have known the trip to the local zoo might be a challenge. “Good morning Miss Williams,” Class 2B chorused.
I may be in my twenties, and fresh to the job, but we are all getting on so well. Timmy brought me an apple last week and Elspeth gifted a drawing she said was of me.
I suspect the bruised apple had been rejected by Timmy and in his bag for a while and Elspeth’s drawing wasn’t meant to look like a witch riding a broomstick, but it is the thought that counts.
That is why I always think of ways to engage the class in every subject. For history I brought a metal detector and the children loved pretending to be archaeologists on the playing field. They found rusty nuts and bolts, plus pieces of bike, including a chain that became a hallowed artifact. The turning point came when Poppy unearthed some long lost lunch money. That cache of coins was as precious to them as a Viking hoard. The fact they seemed to channel the Vikings with their possessive ferocity, was something I tried to explain to the headmistress as I wrote the report on why best friends, (Billy and Michael), had blossomed a black eye each.