Mum walked me to Castle Lane on my first morning. Denise came with us and behaved as though she were showing two visitors round.
I was nearly seven and had already been to infant school, so nobody treated the day as a major event. That did not stop it being one to me.
The school was larger than Harbour View. There were more doors, more children and a playground divided by rules that everybody else appeared to know. Denise pointed out where we were meant to stand. I stayed beside her.
Mum spoke to the teacher at the classroom door. I heard my name, our new address and the fact that I was ‘a little quiet at first’. This was true, but I would have preferred not to have it supplied in advance.
The teacher showed me a peg and a place at a table. My name had been written on a card. It was spelt correctly. I took this as a good sign.
Denise sat at another table and made a face which I understood to mean that the arrangement was unreasonable but temporary.
We copied the date and wrote a few lines about the holiday. I wrote that we had moved house. The teacher asked whether I liked Portchester.
‘Yes,’ I said.
I had lived there for less than a month and had not completed my assessment.
At playtime, Denise found me before I had to decide where to go. She introduced me to two girls whose names I forgot by lunchtime. One of them asked whether I could skip. I said yes, although I could only manage it if the rope was turned slowly and nobody watched closely.
School dinner was minced beef, potatoes and something green. The green part may have been cabbage. School food was often identified by colour first and ingredients later.
In the afternoon, the teacher asked who could take a pile of exercise books to the cupboard. I put up my hand. Carrying books required no conversation and had a clear finishing point.
When Mum collected me, she asked whether I had made friends.
I said Denise.
Denise had been my friend since the week before, but Mum accepted the answer. I went back the next day without her walking me to the door.