The lids were on the pens...

  

Three weeks in at school, I realised the box of felt tips on the writing table still looked intact.

Each year I wrestle with putting felt tips out. Within a day the tips are mushed or they have dried to a crisp because lids can't be found anywhere.

I have always had boy heavy rooms. Boys mash felts. They dig holes in paper. They take them apart. They use them for skin embellishments.

So it was a dilemma. A diametrically opposed dilemma to the original thoughts. 

My first thought was - hey, maybe they haven't got into using the writing table yet. They are playing in other areas of the kopa. But no, I had seen tamariki over in the writing area. Ok, I thought, I will keep an eye on things and encourage the tamariki to use the writing area because writing IS FUN!

A few days later, my kids have those pens. They were being used. BUT...those kids were girls. And it dawned, I have my first girl-heavy class.