Do you have a "best memory" of your child in primary school?

[elliejjtiny]

I know school can be awful for some children and we've had our fair share of that too but my youngest is leaving primary school after me having children going there for 15 years. The year 6's always stand up in their leavers assembly and read out their best memories of their time at the school.

So I thought about what my best memory was.

Prince William was marrying Catherine Middleton and so the school staged their own royal wedding. Each class teacher picked a boy and girl name out of a hat from their class and those children made up the wedding party. Ds1 was the youngest page boy and he walked up the aisle right at the end holding the hand of the little girl in his class who was a bridesmaid. The teachers had all been to the charity shops in town and were all wearing hats and the children had all made paper flowers in class. Everyone had made a massive effort and it was lovely.

Does anyone else have any best memories? You don't have to be a parent of a child in year 6.

The one and only time DD spoke in a school play. Each class was doing a small thing, about 10 minutes long. DD has selective mutism.
They gave her one line. Her best friend was with her to take over if necessary. But she did. Just 7 words, but she did it.

She can sing (in the chorus or choir... and the choir could sing in front of hundreds in the Carol concert) and dance in public, but not speak to a big audience.

For DD2 it was happily waving good bye to the place after 3 years!

Yes!
I already knew my eldest DD is a talented singer….but she’s also very shy. I’ll hear her in her bedroom, or she’ll get engrossed in the music in the car and start singing, but as soon as she notices someone is listening, she clams up and stops. Last year, her class chose a song for their Christmas performance, and I was under the assumption that DD was just part of the group singing together. They all got up on stage and my DD was handed the microphone. Turns out she had been asked to carry the song herself and the rest of the class followed her lead. She was amazing - I was so proud of her.

My DS is a bit of a whirlwind 🫠 he’s a very bouncy child. He gets by academically and meets his targets but really struggles to concentrate. Distracted very easily etc - parents evening rolled around and I was expecting the usual “he’s doing fine, but he’s very easily distracted” etc…..but instead his teacher told me all about an incident a couple of weeks prior that DS hadn’t mentioned at all. His teacher was quite a large lady, and she’d overheard some of the other children making some really horrible comments about her size. She said she needed to take a second to gather herself and went to sit at her desk. Well it turns out DS had overheard the other kids being cruel too and wasn’t having it 😂 He went to her desk, gave her a hug and said “I don’t think any of what they said is true, I think you’re beautiful just the way you are” 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 I almost burst into tears right there and then at parents evening. My DS might not be the most academically gifted child, but knowing he is kind and empathetic and cares about other people made me so proud, and felt like the ultimate parenting win 😍

What a lovely boy 😍

It honestly was the most wonderful thing to hear 🥹
I’ve always told all of my children: if you notice something about someone’s appearance that they can’t change in the next 10 seconds, you absolutely do not need to point it out. If your friend has a bogey, politely and discreetly let them know 🤷🏻‍♀️😂 But if you don’t like their haircut? Keep it to yourself…..and apparently that stuck in my DS’s brain.