He became overwhelmed by the sudden realisation that he was filled to the top with assumptions:

• assumptions about the children in front of him; about what they could do and what they couldn’t

• assumptions about where they should be and where they should get to

• assumptions about how best a child learned this thing or that thing; about what made it go in and what made it stay there

• awful, awful, awful assumptions about what was possible and what was not

He wasn’t actually sure where he had picked up all these nasty little assumptions, but he could now see them as clear as day. They were everywhere he looked. He knew instantly that he had got it all wrong and was immediately ashamed that he had wasted so much of their precious time. His heart raced. He gulped.

So he planned to start again

The next opportunity, he sat down with a child.

He said, “Where are you?” The child looked up and replied, “I’m here.”

Their eyes met. They smiled at one another. This felt much better.

“Where shall we go today?” he asked. “Far,” said the child.

“And how can I help you?” “Stay close, just in case I need you,” the child answered, “but I probably won’t.”

And so a new journey began.