Sergio

Smiling is not allowed. Not when you are the two "cool" boys from Oasis's oldest class and are cultivating some kind of street image! Meet Sergio (in red) and Miguel (on the right), who are, if I am honest, two of my favourite kids in the class. These two come to school everyday without fail and have been there since my first day. When I take the camera out Sergio poses like some kind of gangster, and Miguel refuses to smile no matter what I say.

Each child in the class has such a strong personality, and there is no way that anything I write will convey each quirk and detail of who these children are. But, I am going to try - starting with Sergio.


The teacher who had this class before me sent a long email before I took over, giving me advice on the children and what she had been teaching. Her words of warning: Sergio is one you'll have to keep an eye on. And she wasn't exaggerating! He pulls girls hair, he squirts water everywhere, he calls one girl "Fiona" when her name is Maria Alejandra (as in Fiona, the green monster married to Shrek). But he is so smart. Within seconds he soaks up new information, and can throw it back out. All of the kids respond amazingly well to praise, but get so frustrated by their inability to grasp things. This isn't a problem for Sergio, and when you tell him he has got something right, his whole face lights up. 

Sergio doing paper mache (he is very artistic)

The wonderful thing for me, about Sergio, is that his naughtiness is what you would expect from a young boy. Yes, he is rougher than he should be, and often breaks into dance when I am trying to explain something difficult, but at the end of the day he is just acting how you expect a child to act (a child that hasn't been house-broken!) He can wind the little girls up no end, and I remember how upset boys like him used to make me with their constant teasing, but you can tell he means no harm by it all. I suppose all this must mean that he comes from a less troubled background, but who knows.

Small things about Sergio break my heart. Today we played a game, and I offered the winner the prize of going to the shop at the end of class to pick something for me to buy them. Sergio won the game (all to do with listing nouns if you are interested!) and he was so very excited! The shop is pretty basic. It sits on the corner before we get to school, and sells a little bit of everything (food, drinks, pens) but nothing too exciting. We go in, and Sergio, the most outgoing boy in the class, gets an attack of shyness at what to pick. I said to him: "anything!" thinking he was going to go for one of the sickly sweet offerings that line the counter. He shyly points, and says por favor, esta; not at chocolate, lollipops, Coca-Cola or anything similar. He wanted an apple. Fruit! I bought him a little bag of orange juice to go with his apple (honestly about 40p spent in total) and he looked like he had won the lottery. I could have cried - what child in England would be that excited over an apple? He danced off down the street with his loot, yelling Hasta manana Seno! firmly cementing his position of favourite...