Affectionate Farewells
There were cheers of delight from the children when the teachers proposed to them that we would go and spend time with our Grade 4 Reading Buddies in the main school. The E2 and Grade 4 children have established such high quality relationships over the year, the E2 children were a little taken a back to discover that today would be the final session. However, they showed great understanding of the passage of time and the changes that effect us. With optimism and love they spontaneously began to make tender messages especially for their Reading Buddies. As we walked to the main school building through the park the children were singing and dancing with excitement; perhaps eager to give the gifts, perhaps thrilled to experience the Grade 4 world and to have contact with their as yet mysterious and unknown spaces and routines. Once in the school, the Grade 4 children served as attentive guides, gratefully receiving the messages, accompanying the children to the cafeteria for lunch and providing a tour of the building. It was a tiring visit but a marvelous end to a glorious year of connection with our Reading Buddies. We hope that the bond will continue to develop as the future unfolds.
