St Mary's and St Peter's Catholic Primary School, Bradford

I've just returned from walking Ted, having spent a frantic few minutes literally combing midges out of my hair after walking through a swarm of them! Nasty!

As I tell children on my visits, walking Ted marks the beginning and end of my writing day (and as it's only mid-afternoon I've knocked off very early today!). We had an early start this morning and a very short walk in the dark as I was heading to St Mary's and St Peter's Catholic Primary school in Bradford.

Despite very very clear directions from good friends (thank you Jennie and Jon) I still managed to get lost in the middle of Bradford. (I am blaming my Sat Nav which I inadvertently turned on to discover it was still attempting to get me to my last destination. I had to reset it and well, it really does like to take me via the most roundabout, awkward routes is all I'm saying).

However, my driving stress was eased as soon as I walked through the gates - someone showed my how to get to reception, I was talked through the very flash signing-in system complete with instant photograph, and was made very welcome with a cup of coffee.

Sitting for over an hour is quite an ordeal for Years 1 and 2 but they were all really great. We had a retelling of Cinderella with some very unattractive step-sisters and a very lively retelling of 'Little Red Riding Hood' with a movie star as the main character, a dual-personality wolf and an animated woodcutter - just fab!

Before the session with Year 2, the lovely Mrs Porter,  told me that the pupils in her class hailed from an astonishing 15 different countries, with English being their common language but in most cases their second. She told me the heart-breaking stories of 2 children from Burma, the family experiencing things no-one should ever have to experience. And yet, when it comes to the dreadful SATs all that the government seems bothered about is ticking some wretched boxes. The children were brilliant, the teachers were brilliant, and their achievements are incredible. I just wish that could be recognised not just a list of targets and attainments.