Tuesday will be known as (lack of) Independence day. To my knowledge, so far we have managed to salvage: 2 hats, 3 packed lunches, 4 hoodies, 3 pairs of sunglasses, a coat, 1 wallet and a whole bag. When I reminded the children that they needed to look after their things last night at 10pm, one decided to particular rub my nose in it by leaving his hoody and wallet right by where he was sitting as I gave the impassioned speech! Apologies for small typos or other errors, but this is mostly being written on an iphone!! Very enjoyable day yesterday. Those who have read before will know my frustration with the complete inefficiency at breakfast and the fact they have individual packets of cereal for 160 children. Well, the Chateau must have had Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay in for a makeover, as they have streamlined and now have troughs of ceral and jugs of milk-hurrah! Unfortunately old habits die hard and the inefficiency within the kitchen is wonderful to watch. My mother probably wouldn't think she would feature in a school blog but at this stage I would like to thank her for her enjoyment of Victoria Wood as I was growing up, as the similarities between these ladies and Acorn antiques are very close. There are only 2 cereals to choose from and only one type of milk, yet when they run out..... well those vital cogs in the machine just break down and a thoroughly enjoyable 10 minute pause awaits us. Also new for this year is making of your own baguettes-which the children have enjoyed. Being the old pro that I am and knowing how much bread we eat, I decided to take one of the ready made sandwiches to cut down on my carbo intake. Error, big error-rock hard bread, with more margerine than salami. I have learnt my lesson. Quick word for Mrs P, unsurprisingly the word 'holiday' has now disappeared from her description of the week, although she did get back on the superfood diet very impressively yesterday. I didn't think it was possible in France, but clearly is-fair play to you Mrs P! Dorm inspections are well and truly up and running. The contrast in style between the two inspections is magnificent to watch. If you don't follow Mr Powell's EXACT regime and words then points are thrown away like confetti. The plastic cricket stump has made a good substitute for the marching baton and it is ceremonially knocked onto each of the boys doors. The commentary that follows is dead pan and of the strictest nature..... meanwhile upstairs the girls are doing full on dance routines and have even brought decorations in order to try and woo Mrs Thomas. Something has been lost in translation here-the prize is not a week in the Bahamas!! Still we have them well and truly hooked and long may it continue. The sight seeing trip around Rouen was done by 2 very enthusiastic Kingswood members of staff who did a cracking job. My morning was interrupted when a certain boy from 6P ( who will feature a lot in the rest of the blog) left his entire ruck sack and lunch on the coach. I phoned Stewart, the driver, who was delighted when I told him I needed him to drive the 8km back from the supermarket that he was currently in and getting his weekly shop for a 10 year old's bag. Once I returned the bag to the boy he enquired "where did you get that from?", Well... you can imagine my response. The shopping in Rouen is always a highlight of the week and some children really outshone themselves this year. The two worst were a mirror with the word Paris written on it (think I have mentioned to them 20 times we are not going to Paris) and 2 boys who exited out of Claire's accessories with "sleeves". One, like Jospeh and the technicolour dreamcoat, the other with netting and then pink-think Cyndi Lauper video from the 1980s. The abuse rained down on them (from myself and Mr Powell!) Another boy had a wonderfullly profound statement " I decided before I came that I was going to be really careful with what I spend my money on, " I then had to point out that he has just spent 10 euro in the picknmix shop, exclusively on fudge...... Pleasingly some children did speak in complete french sentences to buy their crepes and I got to practice my best french accent when the children asked me how to say nutella in french! On the way back from Rouen, Stewart the driver, tried to start a second game of bingo. We put a quick stop to that and there was no connection between that decision and the adults being asleep 5 minutes later. Also, when one is defending a title, one has to be in the right frame of mind. They always say it is not winning the title that is difficult, but retaining it and winning it a second time......