The School Near the Sea

Today Mirry will meet her new teacher. She and her classmates were looking forward to this first day of school. They were in a new class, one year older and quite pleased with their test results. It would be good to get back to school after such a long holiday.

Their school was a small wooden building in a little village near the sea. It was a very small village with just a few families living in homes built close to the sea.

Mirry loved her village. She liked to watch as the sun came up bright and golden in the deep blue of the morning sky, making shining lights on the open sea. The white gulls and the pelicans swooped this way and that, searching from high above the sea for their morning breakfast of small fish.

A soft breeze blew gently across the water and as Mirry watched, a fishing boat came into view, then another, and another. One of those boats belonged to her father. The boats were coming back with the night’s catch of fish. If she hurried she could help pull in the seine nets, which she hoped would be full of fish.

"Oh no," she thought, "not today. It is the first day of school and I must finish my chores quickly or I shall be late."

“Please help me with my hair, Mummy," said Mirry to her mother. Mirry’s mother combed and braided her hair. The white ribbons matched her white socks and her neat blue uniform, and as Mirry picked up her new books and headed for the door, she heard her friends call, “Mirry, Mirry, hurry or we’ll be late.”

She gave her mother a quick kiss and rushed out of the door.

Some easy questions for you to answer

Where is Mirry’s school?

Why does Mirry like her village?

What kind of work does Mirry’s father do?

What are the fishing nets called?

Why would Mirry want the nets to be full of fish?

How does Mirry dress for school?

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