It's 9.45 on a
beautiful spring morning and Ms Firnley is not happy. It's bad
enough that her new teaching assistant, Mrs Riley, has inexplicably
failed to arrive at work, leaving her to supervise thirty eight
children. But what's worse is Ms Firnley cannot help but feel there
is something wrong with the children. First day back at school is
usually more of an exercise in crowd control than education, but on
this morning the children are quiet, studious, scribbling away.
Her consternation is
further compounded when playtime comes and goes without a peep from
them: no shouting or clamouring for attention, they just continue
scribbling while four of their number tap away at the schools
computers.
