This photo came up in my Facebook memories today and it brought up many emotions and thoughts.

I was a teacher for many years and from the turn of the millennium to 2014 I worked in a school for children with moderate learning difficulties.

When I started there – I’ve written previously how that came about! – I was a very nervous novice. But soon I realised that I absolutely loved the children and the job and the extremely supportive staff. I was for a while in teacher heaven. Things were not always easy or straightforward, but I was willing to learn, even if the kids weren’t!

The school was based in Hammersmith at first and then it moved to White City. There the head changed and things became less comfortable. But one thing was good.

I had a big classroom, with desks and chairs and computers etc. but I also had space and a lot of easy chairs, as you can see in the picture. I bought the zebra throws very cheaply one day in Primark and the room was transformed. The kids loved it – we did circle time and drama and psche on those chairs. The teachers would come at lunchtime and sit comfortably. Parents would love it when they came for a chat in the afternoons.

Most important of all it was a safe space for reading, for thinking, for being.

When I left finally, the atmosphere in the school had changed dramatically. The new head thought the classroom was too much like a child’s bedroom- though he himself was not averse to sitting comfortably whenever he came in, and this began the subliminal policy of easing me out of the school. Devastating to my confidence.

But when I saw this picture it brought back so many happy and poignant memories.