New term, new....

Tomorrow is the first day of day of the new school term up here in Cumbria. After a long wet summer holiday my daughter will be heading into year 3 and my son starting in Reception. It will be a whole new experience for all of us.


New to Junior School


My daughter may find it a shock to the system moving to the more formal schooling of juniors. We are going to have to get use to the joys of proper homework so guess I need to start as I mean to go with ensuring she gets it done. This is her second year at this school so I hope it goes at lot smoother than last year. I hope that she learns to control her temper and emotions better so she can settle and make stronger friendships.


New to School


My son will be part time at big school for the first 2 weeks. The transition from nursery school to Reception is designed to make it as smooth as possible for the children. He is very excited about going and I'm sure he will be perfectly happy. I think its going to be harder for him to have to wait until the afternoon to go in wearing his new uniform (which I've spent too much time labelling!):

New mummy

I'm going to be on my own for most of the day 5 days a week from the end of the month. This opens to many opportunities for me:

• sorting out the house and getting a proper housework routine (FlyLady here I come!)
• expanding my existing Usborne book business
• getting going with the family history business
• finding a part time paid job to fit into school hours (not an easy thing to do)
• getting into shape with Rosemary Conley (school holidays not good for my weight!)

It will be interesting to see how it goes for all of us so watch this space....

Getting ready for school

Last night was the new parents' evening for all of the families whose children are starting at primary school with my son in September. It doesn't seem that long since my son was born and hard to believe that in less than 3 months time he will be taking the first step into formal schooling.

aged 1 day!

We were handed a folder containing lots of information on how the school works and how we can help our child get ready for starting in September. Plenty of tips on helping them with numeracy and writing. I will be revisiting the joy of phonics with accompanying actions that I remember doing with my daughter 3 years ago. We were also advised to make sure that our children are able to dress and undress themselves, do their own shoes (velcro being preferred option!), go to the toilet on own etc. Luckily for me I've been encouraging my son to do this but I can now use the "Mrs Greenup says" phrase to get him to do things he'd like me to do for him.


They are getting the children used to the new school and staff in various ways in this term before they actually start in September. The teacher is visiting them at nursery this month and the children will be invited to take part in the school sports day next week with their own race. There will also be a couple of hours of taster sessions and a story time session in July. When they start they are phased in a little bit with 3 afternoons followed by 5 mornings before hopefully going full time. We've been advised that if our children can't cope with 5 full days then the school will be flexible as to their hours to make it easier for the child.


As his big sister is already at the school and he sees it every day I think this should be quite an easy transition for my son (ask me in September if it was!). His best friend from nursery will be one of the 20 in the class and he knows most of the others by sight. I think its more of a milestone for me as this is my little baby moving away from being at home with me 2.5 days a week! His big sister is going up to the junior school part of the school in September as well so she will find it very different. The autumn will be a whole new world for all of us and I may even be able to find work to fit in around the kids' when I only have 1 drop off and pick up to arrange. Watch this space....

New school nerves

My daughter starts her new school tomorrow having moved to the other end of the country. She will be going into a class twice the size of her old school and has only vaguely met one girl from her year group. Unlike her old school I don't know it all except for our initial visit and I have only really talked to the head.


It has a similar ethos to her old school being a church school with Forest status. The children spend quite a large amount of time making the most of the surrounding countryside. Hopefully this will help her to settle in.


At the minute with her being somewhere between precocious and obnoxious I hope she gets off on the right foot. The girl she met at church from her class seemed to instantly like her enough to hold hands crossing the road! She does put people's backs up by being bolshy and demanding sometimes so I want her to show her best side.


I am not sure how quickly her teacher will be able to establish her levels in literacy and numeracy. Her old teachers had her doing a year ahead maths and she was one of the best readers in her class. If she gets bored of doing something too easy then who knows what will happen!


Of course the other nerve wracking thing is meeting the other mums & dads! At her old school I was over enthusiastic and labelled as posh due to my accent... Will have to soft pedal this time and hopefully come across as just a middle of the road mum. Having to explain that I'm a lone parent doesn't get easier either...


My son will be phased into his nursery from tomorrow afternoon with me being with him for his first visit. He is in a class of 30 so hopefully the staff will soon be able to work him out! Several families in our street have children in the same class so hopefully this will ease the transition for him.


So who is most nervous about tomorrow?


Probably me! My daughter has her moments but she is a confident 6 year old and is happy in new situations. My son seems totally unconcerned. Only time will tell...