Manic Easter Monday

Unfortunately local schools aren’t great around here. They aren’t terrible but far from great. My oldest (Ben) is in Year 1 and his teachers job share (not fab for very young children) and seem total opposites. Blonde teacher told me one evening he was falling further and further behind because of his reading, trouble writing and lack of concentration. “Im very concerned”….”not able to access the curriculum”… This was a bolt from the blue! I said I wanted value-added data for the class (anonymised) and Ben as an individual I also said I wanted him to be assessed for dyslexia.

Next day brunette teacher called me to say it’s nothing to worry about, he’s doing fine etc..

I don’t believe in pushing kids too hard at such a young age but despite their different opinions I didn’t feel he’d learned much in Y1 so my Mum kindly paid for him to have extra tuition at explore learning and as long as Ben enjoys going there I’m happy as he is developing his concentration and writing skills. Only problem is that it’s on the far side of Bedford. So after brekkie I drove Ben to explore learning and pottered around Sainsburys getting stuff for the evening meal, I then picked Ben up and headed to the nearest Beefeater to meet hubby and the little monster.

Lunch over and too cold to walk around the lake we headed home and hubby cooked an amazing dinner of Chicken Mole (recipe on the good food website). It was bloody hot but so moreish. It had a little peanut butter in but I figured it was fairly little and ate it with no rice, just a little sour cream to balance the heat. Our Easter break was over, it had been the coldest Easter I can remember with snow but we’d still had fun (and thank God we hadn’t booked a break away to the coast this year!).

Breakfast: Brie omelette, salad
Lunch: Salmon, corn on the cob, hollandaise sauce, cooked veg
Dinner: spicy chicken mole, soured cream.

First impressions of Big Boy School

first day at school

From a tired mum:

1. Pick up is different – a couple of teachers to 30 kids means you don’t stand and chat about what they ate and how they blew their nose like the nursery teachers (with 8 kids to 2 teachers) encourage.

2. Children tell you very little. Who knows what really happens? I certainly don’t.

3. Mysterious things appear in book bags – a reading record with no instructions as to whether I record things he reads (nothing yet) or things I read to him (the book will fill up very quickly!).

4. My terrible panic and guilt at not having paid up for the pre and after school session by the end of summer term was pointless – half the Mum’s hadn’t even signed up on the first day and I joined a long queue of parents signing up or paying up.

5. All the other Mums seemed to know what PE kit was needed. I collared the teacher this morning and will now be heading to town for white tops, black shorts and plimsolls.

From a little boy

1. Packed lunches are nice. You can have dairylea dunkers.

2. You aren’t supposed to go in the toilet with a big sign on it – it’s broken.

3. There are two other Bens at school.

4. You can choose your pudding at lunch time and yesterday all of my friends had a  different pudding! I had watermelon.

5. We got brioche as a snack at after school club.

6. If you fall over on grass its OK. If you fall head first on gravel it hurts.

7. Somehow Mummy knows what I have for school dinner each day – she must climb into the windows to watch me eat (actually I have a copy of the menu but I like the idea of me climbing in windows).

All in all it’s OK. It’s walking distance so currently I walk the kids to Ben’s school, walk back with Ciaran and drive him to nursery but to make life easier Ciaran will soon leave the marvellous Fordfield at Ruxox nursery and start at a nursery next to Ben’s school.

Watch this space for the exciting world of phonics and more school boy scrapes and bumps.