The School Admission Saga

The dreaded letter dropped through the door early December and I have been putting off submitting my entry but holding back the tears I have finally done it!

It only seems about a year ago that I gave birth to R but he's no longer the tiny, snuffly, bundle of sleepiness we brought home, he will be going to 'Big Boy School' this September which makes me incredibly sad.

I've mentioned in a previous blog about other people infuencing my children and about me (& Mr L of course) being the only people to 'mold' them and teach them all they know so letting him go out into the big wide education world that I can't provide him, makes me feel physically sick. Of course all influences up until now have been vetted by us, usually family and trusted friends, so letting people I don't know (including children that haven't been approved [LOL]) is really scary. If I had the knowledge, qualifications, time and patience I would teach my children at home. Sadly, I know they will gain so much more than I can ever teach them under a structured education system which also makes me sorrowful because I feel I have failed as a parent!

The whole process seems so daunting but actually it was very easy. Most of the schools in our town organise 'Open' days for such occasion, and if they didn't they were all very welcoming in meeting at our convenience to show us around their establishments.

Even though, according to Essex County Council, 'catchment' areas do actually still apply, many people are prepared to travel by what ever means to get their children to their preferred school and if there is a place at the selected school I guess you are just lucky. For me, not having a car all the time, my selections were pretty much already made for me but I still insisted on viewing the schools I thought would be suitable for R as I felt I couldn't send him to somewhere without looking around and seeing what he would be up to for myself.

So my form says I need to make 4 choices (altough talking to friends it has only been 3 in the past) and after looking at 2 of the 3 schools I would be able to get to fairly easily I had decided on a school which is a little bit further but felt for the small classroom sizes and location it was worth it. Having since thought about it more, it makes more sense for me to put my first choice down as the school he currently attends the Nursery of for convenience around Mr L's shifts and my DD 'E' will hopefully be attending the Nursery by September so I can't really be in 2 places at once!!

Many of my friends are quite worried about the selection process as it seems to be quite random when it comes to a minority of cases as the 'catchment' areas certainly seem to stretch to places we didn't think they would. I know there is one particular school in our town that has quite a bad reputation when it comes to caring for children with additional needs and although it doesn't have a very good OFSTED report. I have a couple of friends who either have children there in Reception or will be starting this year who seem perfectly happy with the set up and will progress just as well there as anywhere else. There were also a few stories we heard about after last years submissions that were both good and bad so it really does just depend on luck although my theory is that if you haven't written a certain school on your application and you get allocated a place there, you have a better chance at apealling your case as you haven't said you were happy for your child to go there. If, however you lose an appeal, I'm sure there is a process of applying directly to your preferred school after the new term begins to see if they have a place for your child.

So I have submitted my application and I will be one of the Mums waiting up until midnight on the 17th April for an e-mail to tell me what school R got in to. The suspense is literally killing me!!!

I will then have to go through it all again next year as E will be starting in 2014, somehow I feel more relaxed about her.....that might have changed by this time next year!!

Teacher Envy

I always had this dream that I would be the one who solely taught my kids everything. That they wouldn’t get influenced by anyone else because I could keep them with me 24/7 and they’d listen to ONLY me and do EVERYTHING I tell them…. Delusional or what???

This first hit me when I had to leave R at pre-school for the 1^st day when he was 2. While he ran off to play with he toys and make new friends, I was the one walking away in tears, not because he wasn’t bothered I was leaving him for 2 ½ hours but because this was the beginning of the time when someone other than myself was going to teach him new things.

I decided quite early on in my pregnancy that I was going to give up work to look after him and see him achieve all the milestones for myself. Hear him say ‘Mama’ and ‘Dada’ for the first time with my own ears and watch him take his first steps with my own eyes.

So here’s my latest dilemma!!!

R isn’t going to ‘Big’ school yet. In fact, he’s staying in the nursery school he’s been at since January this year with the same teacher and assisting staff, but for some reason the start of his first full year in this class with this teacher is quite daunting for me. Mainly because in the last 6 months they have taught him things I could never have taught him myself and he has done things I never imagined he could have achieved. He has his moments like any other 3 year old but he’s turning into such a charming young boy and I can’t help but feel I’m not able to take any of the credit.

I think the problem is because I’m jealous!! There….. I said it. Jealous!!

R’s teacher is all the things I would love to be but just fail miserably at.

She’s enthusiastic; even at 3:30 in the afternoon after 2 classes of 20 odd kids all day she greets the parents with a chirpy smile and a spring in her step.

She’s approachable; something I always strive to be but have just never got the hang of, I think this is linked to the enthusiasm. Parents are less likely to raise issues with a hapless person aren’t they?

She’s well travelled (I presume); I can't imagine that someone who just ‘popped’ to New York for half term is likely to stay at home and do nothing the rest of the time….Lucky girl!!

She’s Pretty, Fashionable, Slim, Fit and basically, she’s someone I wish I had been prior to having my children.

She referred to me as a ‘Yummy Mummy’ recently when introducing me to someone which I took as a total compliment, still I can’t help but be envious of her

The Nursery Nurse and all rest of the staff are always smiley and helpful too no matter how big or small your issue and I am very covetous of them all.

The bottom line is this…..Anyone that can teach a class of 3 and 4 year olds to sing ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ in Spanish will ALWAYS be better than me!

Witham Carnival..Dampened and Deflated!

The weather was pretty rubbish today but it certainly didn't stop half of Witham turning out for the annual Carnival which always has high expectations and today I can't help but think I'm not the only one feeling quite let down.

It was advertised that the procession started from the Football Club at 1:30 which is fine but its a good 10 minute walk from there to the high street where most people (including us) had turned out so see it. So we waited in the awful weather for what seemed like an eternity, the rain kept appearing so up went my hood and everytie it stopped again, my hood went down. Up and down like a happy yoyo for a good 20 minutes then finally a glimmer of a Police car's flashing lights appeared round the bend in the distance!!

E had given up by now and was flat out in the buggy but R was getting quite excited of people gathering, blowing whistles, drum beats in the distance, people selling not so official merchandise, lots of colourful floats and music........but we were greeted with at least 20 Carnival Queens, a good 30% were from places I've never heard of. 2 floats (The local Rugby Club and Brownies made an effort at least!), 1 brass band, a few Majorette troupes, 3 fire engines (one Vintage one, representing the Witham Round Table, advertising the Fireworks display which is in November!!!) and what I thought was a group of people lost in random cars but I found out after they were part of a local church group!

It went on for about 25 minutes, mostly delayed because the fire engines kept stopping to let kids on and off and apart from a police car slowing traffic behind it, you'd never have known it had come to an end.

SO, I propose this. Next year I want to see A LOT more effort from the Witham Community. What happened to the Childrens centres, Local dance groups, Football clubs, Schools, Nurseries, Playgroups, Zumba (and the like) fitness classes, diet club classes and local businesses that do community based work.

I have so many ideas running around in my head, I should join the Organising Commitee. I am definitely getting a float of some description though. One thing is for sure.... I won't let this happen again!!