I see them in their uniforms

All the same, some quiet

And some in angry huffs

Stomping off when we say no.

But some days we can see

Them in another way

A stronger version

A bit more personality

And now we see each other as

A proper human being.

We had a two day Retreat and Pilgrimage with my school on Thursday and Friday. On the Thursday I was in school and we did lots of activities that made us think about ourselves and our faiths and our school community. And on Friday, we went to the cathedral in a nearby city.

I was lucky enough to have two days off timetable to spend with the kids as I am a Year 7 tutor. I see these kids every day in their school uniforms and I thought that I knew them well. It’s only been six weeks, but I could figure out who was naughty and who was quiet and who was clever.

However, seeing them all outside of the classroom was really eye opening and it was so nice to see more of the quieter ones. There was one girl who has always been so shy and all of a sudden I saw her as this really cool team leader. She could do street dance and she led her team to winning an engineering challenge.

Then I sat on the bus next to another quiet one for an hour. I thought it would be really awkward, but we ended up chatting away for the whole journey.

I am exhausted, but I’m so glad I had that experience with my tutor group. I’ve got such a soft spot for even the ones that I thought were a nightmare. I can’t wait to see them grow over the next five years, and to watch them turn into fabulous human beings.

Much Love

Rachel xx