Hello Storytime crew and welcome back.
We are so glad that you're here.
Whether you're snuggled up in bed or curled up on the couch or listening in the car on the way home from school,
You belong here.
Today's story is about one very sparkly unicorn who becomes wildly dramatically and spectacularly nervous about some upcoming school tests.
So nervous in fact that she decides the only sensible solution is to study absolutely everything in the whole entire universe.
Fractions?
Yep.
Volcanoes?
Obviously.
The emotional lives of sea creatures?
Yep,
Just in case.
Along the way the Storytime crew discovers something really important about exams,
Cleverness and how a single test is only a tiny snapshot of what your brain can actually do.
Because your kindness,
Your creativity,
Your bravery,
Your humour,
Your imagination,
None of that can be measured on a piece of paper.
Also guys I feel it might be really important to mention this early,
There might be a few unexpected unicorn sparkle farts along the way.
You've been warned okay.
Alright Storytime crew,
Get comfy,
Wiggle your toes,
Relax your shoulders,
Let your jaw soften.
Let's take a slow breath in and a long breath out.
And let's begin.
On a perfectly ordinary Tuesday morning Miss Pepper clapped her hands.
Not a soft clap,
Not a gentle clap,
But the sort of clap that makes your stomach do a suspicious little somersault.
Storytime crew she says brightly.
We should have felt comforting,
But it didn't.
Next week she continued,
We'll be doing our school tests.
The word tests floated through the classroom like a dramatic soap bubble.
And then,
Oona the unicorn froze completely.
Her ears stiffened,
Her tail stopped mid swish.
She had one hoof in the air.
Her glitter even paused mid sparkle.
Tests,
She whispered.
Her tummy flipped,
Her brain made a loud internal screaming sound.
And then,
A tiny nervous sparkle toot escaped.
Then there was silence.
Then giggles,
Not mean giggles,
The bubbly can't help it kind of giggles.
Oona gasped,
Oh no.
Around her reactions bloomed.
Lizzie the ladybug shot up from her chair.
I love tests,
She announced loudly.
Odin blinked.
No Lizzie,
You love finishing first.
Yeah,
You're right Odin,
I do.
And then,
Discovering there were actually more pages to the test,
Odin added,
Lizzie froze.
Uh,
What?
There's more pages?
Ziggy the zebra quietly presses her hooves together.
Hmm,
When I'm nervous,
She said softly.
The letters sometimes start to wiggle and wobble all over the page.
Savvy tilted her chair back on two legs.
Are these the sit still for an hour kind of variety of tests,
Miss Pepper?
Yeah,
They are Savvy,
Miss Pepper responds.
Oh boy,
I am not built for this level of responsibility,
Savvy says dramatically as she slides like melted ice cream onto the floor.
Ollie the otter raised his paws.
Miss Pepper,
Are the tests edible?
Uh,
No Ollie,
Said the teacher.
Then,
Uh,
It's a no from me,
Says Ollie.
But Oona,
Well,
Oona was no longer listening because inside her magnificent unicorn brain,
A disaster movie had begun.
What if she forgot everything?
What if her brain went blank?
What if everyone finished and she was still writing?
What if she wasn't actually clever like mum told her?
Her stomach makes another nervous noise.
Oh,
I'm sorry guys,
But at least my fear is fabulous,
She squeaked.
By lunchtime,
Oona had made a decision,
A bold decision,
A dramatic decision.
If tests measured knowledge,
She would simply learn all there was to know about all the knowledge in the whole wide world.
Problem solved.
That afternoon,
Oona studied and she studied and she studied some more.
Fractions,
Spelling,
Science,
History,
Astrophysics.
By dinner,
She was reading about volcanoes.
By dessert,
She was researching the emotional intelligence of dolphins.
By bedtime,
She was whispering,
Tell me more about tectonic plates,
Please.
Her eyes took on the wild shine of someone who had absolutely and totally overcommitted.
She was rattling off all sorts of statistics and data.
Odin stared at her.
Uh,
Oona,
The tests on fractions?
Fractions could connect to geology!
She cried dramatically.
Another sparkle fart escaped.
And guys,
This one smelled faintly of lavender with a side of panic.
The next morning,
Oona arrived at school looking,
Well,
Dishevelled and a little bit unstable.
Her mane was tangled and knotted.
Her sparkles were all crooked.
She accidentally memorised the number of bones in a shark.
Miss Pepper noticed.
She always notices.
She gathered the Storytime crew on the mat as they came into class.
Now,
Storytime crew,
She says gently,
I think we might need to have a talk about tests.
Oona gulped and then farted.
Guys,
I am so sorry,
She muttered as her cheeks lit up in the brightest pink you could ever imagine.
Miss Pepper held up a small camera.
Tell me,
She says kindly to the crew,
If I take one blurry photo of Savvy,
Does that photo show me everything about Savvy?
No,
Said Josie.
It might miss her balancing skills,
Said Odin.
It would totally miss my best angle,
Said Savvy.
Miss Pepper smiled.
Well,
Guys,
A test is just like that.
Crew blinked.
It's a one hour snapshot,
A peek,
A tiny window.
It shows me what your brain displays on that day,
Miss Pepper said.
She paused.
But it doesn't show me how kind you are to yourself and your friends.
The crew started to shake their head.
It doesn't show me your bravery.
More head shaking from the crew.
It doesn't show me your imagination,
Your humor,
Your compassion,
Your sparkle.
Oona's ears slowly lowered.
Or your magic,
Said Miss Pepper.
Everyone turned to look Oona.
She sniffed.
Well,
I guess that's kind of reassuring.
Miss Pepper turned to Ziggy.
And some brilliant brain,
She said warmly.
They don't like written words.
Ziggy nodded.
Because cleverness is not measured by how fast you can write or how neat your writing is,
Miss Pepper continued.
She looked at Lizzy.
And some brains move really,
Really fast,
Lizzy beamed.
But tests aren't a race,
Lizzy,
Miss Pepper said gently.
Slow and steady helps you shine just a teeny tiny bit brighter.
Lizzy gasped.
Oh,
Do you mean I've got to check my work?
I do,
Lizzy,
Says Miss Pepper.
Maybe even triple check it.
Lizzy looked personally attacked.
The test day arrived.
Tummies were fluttering.
Chairs scraped on the floor.
The clock ticked loudly.
Oona took a breath.
Miss Pepper handed out the papers and silence fell across the room.
The pen scratched on the paper.
Lizzy zoomed through page one.
She turned it over.
Oh,
Man,
You've got to be kidding me,
She says out loud.
Savvy stretched her legs carefully.
Josie moved calmly and did one question at a time.
Odin checked his answers.
Not once,
Not twice,
But three times.
Oona's tummy flooded again.
But this time,
She remembered what Miss Pepper had said.
It's a snapshot.
Just a snapshot.
Her shoulders relaxed.
And then a loud echoing sparkle fire burst through the quiet classroom.
Glitter drifted down over the crew like confetti.
Ollie clapped his hands with sheer excitement.
Oona,
That was majestic,
He said.
Oona buried her face in her hooves.
I believe that is what we call a relief toot,
She said.
Miss Pepper smiles.
Carry on crew,
She says gently.
An hour later,
It was over.
No disasters,
No catastrophes,
No proof that anyone was secretly not clever.
Just papers collected,
Chairs pushed in,
And life continues on as normal.
Oona blinked.
Well,
That wasn't as terrifying as I was predicting,
She said.
Odin nods.
You only tried to learn the entire universe,
Oona.
Which,
Said Ziggy,
Was very,
Very ambitious.
Oona smiled.
She still didn't love tests,
But she didn't fear them either,
Because she understood something enormous.
No single piece of paper could ever measure the size of her magic,
Or anyone else's for that matter.
So,
My little legends,
Here is the most important truth of all.
Your kindness matters.
Your courage matters.
Your imagination,
Your heart,
Your weirdness,
Your sparkle.
These things cannot be graded.
They can't be scored.
So,
The next time something feels really big and scary,
Take a breath.
Remember who you are.
And know that your magic could never fit on a few pages in the short space of an hour.
Now,
Take one slow breath in and one soft breath out.
Let your body relax.
And I will see you in the next step in the Storytime Crew Adventure.
Bye!
