Appetite for distraction

As a nation of little ones head to school for the very first time, it’s easy to remember what our favourite teachers meant to us - even though we were probably absolute hellions to them at the time

In the years to come, children starting school this week will remember the teachers who were kind and encouraging

Another September, another cohort of tiny humans embarking on the first of many years of their schoolgoing careers. The stiff little collars, the shiny new shoes, the preposterously big backpacks nearly as wide and tall as the children themselves – I have a lump in my throat just thinking about them and I don’t even have any kids. They have so much ahead of them: joined-up writing, long division, inexplicable tours to recycling ...