An enchanting peek into the world of the special school; tales that are touching, surprising and amusing. Find out how useful it can be to play at lions, why custard on your lapels is a sign you might get the job and what teachers do with vibrating snakes.

These are edited versions of articles the author had published in The Times Educational Supplement between the years of 2003 and 2006. They were published under a pen name: Maria Corby. The articles are based on the author's experience of twenty-five years of working in special schools, but incidents recorded have been fictionalised and characters are completely made up.

About the author: Ginny Brown is the Deputy Headteacher of a special school in the South of England. After donkeys' years teaching in a range of schools, she still finds her work fascinating. She has two, marvellous, grown-up children