Flora's Fantastic Fix

Flora loved her Year One classroom. It smelled like crayons and sunshine, and best of all, it had Miss Newey. Miss Newey had a smile as bright as the gold stars she gave out. When Flora muddled up a word like ‘friend’, writing ‘f-r-e-n-d’, Miss Newey would kneel down and say softly, ‘Almost, Flora! Let’s find the tricky bit together.’ She never made Flora feel silly, and when someone was extra kind or clever, a happy *ding* would sound from the computer, and a new Dojo point would pop up on Dojo Island. Flora loved hearing that *ding*.

Later, out in the playground, the sun was warm on their backs. Flora and her mates, Leo and Chloe, were building the tallest, wobbliest block tower the school had ever seen. It was almost touching the sky! “We just need one more piece!” said Leo. “The long, skinny, red one for the very top!” They looked in the block box. It was empty. The special red block was gone!

“Don’t worry!” said Flora, who loved solving problems. “We’ll find it!” She looked under the slippery slide. Chloe checked behind the big gum tree. Leo tipped the whole block box upside down, making a loud *clatter-bang!* But there was no red block. The tower stood unfinished, and Chloe’s lip began to wobble. “It’s ruined,” she sighed. Flora’s tummy felt a bit wobbly, too. Her great idea hadn’t worked.

Flora scrunched up her nose, thinking hard. She remembered Miss Newey tapping the word 'friend'. ‘Let’s look at the problem piece by piece,’ she’d said. The problem wasn’t just the *missing* block... the problem was needing a long, skinny piece! Suddenly, Flora’s eyes lit up. She zipped over to the craft trolley and pulled out a long, colourful cardboard tube. “This is our new block!” she announced. She carefully stood on her tippy-toes and placed it right on top. It was perfect!

Leo and Chloe cheered! Miss Newey walked over, her smile making her eyes crinkle. “Flora, that was amazing problem-solving! You didn’t give up. That’s worth a Dojo point for sure!” A happy *ding* sounded from the classroom speaker just then. Flora beamed. She knew she would miss Miss Newey so much in Year Two, but she also knew she would take all the clever tricks she’d learned, for spelling and for building towers, with her.