STAFFROOM: Summer is here, for the calendar says so, and despite the rain and the wind and the grey skies, my classroom must undergo a seachange.

The faded paintings of daffodils, frogs, lambs, calves, nests and baby birds must be peremptorily taken down from the walls and be replaced by tulips, bees, butterflies, seascapes and shellfish. The nature table too has to undergo a transformation, for in any self-respecting junior classroom the seasons are often more remarkable indoors than out. Next up, however, is the first Holy Communion, with readings, rehearsals and rosettes. Then its election day and the book fair, curriculum days and theschool tour, and the term is nearly over. Tempus is really fugiting!

I noticed recently as we watched the Alive-o video that the teachers featured on it seem to have a fondness for costume jewellery, with dangling earrings being almost a uniform accessory. Actually, I find that when watching any promotional tapes I am invariably comparing the teacher, the pupils and the classroom decor with my own scenario and I feel that the pupils too are guilty of the same critical assessment.

A recent video which arrived from the DES was designed to assist us in the teaching of English. As I watched it I noticed that the gilet is a garment which is eminently suited to the modern infant-teacher. It is smart and trendy and allows ease of movement. The suit is decidedly passé now. Bending, stretching, crouching, pasting and mopping-up are not easily executed by a lady wearing a costume and high-heeled shoes. Maybe then the wearing of colourful trinkets and bagatelles is a compensatory ploy, a subtle device to proclaim our femininity in the androgynous world of the modern classroom. On the other hand, perhaps it is nothing more than a simple testament to the fact that we all caress the camera and crave affirmation in a media-

dominated workplace.