"My name is Elias Fischer and I'm six years old. Today is my first day at school. The school building is big and has lots of stairs and doors. You go to school to learn to read, write and count. I'm looking forward to gym lessons, but I don't like arithmetic. You learn writing so you know how to write down what you want to buy." Pictures and text: Christoph Balsiger, swissinfo
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"The walk to school takes me over a bridge, before I get to the main street with lights. When they are red, I have to wait, but when they are green, I can cross the street."
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"The reflective vest is important in winter when its foggy; it reflects light when I cross the street."
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"Our teacher is called Miss Meier. She's nice."
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"I know a lot of the other children from kindergarten,like Yoël, Nadine, Nicolas, Zoé."
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"My schoolbag has real cow hairs on it and is brown and white. My grandmother gave it to me."
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"The red paper in the desk is to keep it from getting dirty inside."
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"I can write a little bit, but only big letters. As soon as the teacher will know our names, we won't need a sign in front of us."
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"I sit in a corner of the classroom next to Jeremy. I know him from kindergarten."
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"I don't know what I want to be. But not a teacher and not a chimney sweep. It's nice to be up on the roof, but you get all dirty when you clean the chimney."
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