FIRE!!!!

The alarm went off and the whole school ran  slumped, walked in an orderly fashion outside into the freezing playground to wait for the all-clear. We gathered in our respective meeting places, to be counted and ticked off the list. It was a drill, it turned out, and after about ten minutes of roll-call and lecturing for poor performance, 1000 people grumpily trooped back in again to resume lessons. Twenty minutes later, as I got down to a promising and productive art lesson with my VI student (of which, more anon), the alarm went off again. I had no coat, and neither did she. 1000 people left the building for the second time that day, back out into the brittle winter weather. It was serious this time, clearly - we have never had two drills one after the other. We waited, trying Not To Talk. Those in charge wore grave expressions, and muttered with solemnity amongst themselves as the cause of the alarm was investigated. Suffice to say, the three beautiful RE teachers are now strictly forbidden to make toast without opening the window first. That'll teach them to get hangovers on a Friday morning.