SCHOOL- starting in sept..anyone?

[laneydaye]

my ds is........ and wont be 5 till january...
scary..
im exited i think, but a little scAred!
how do you feel?

got dd at home so wont be bored though....xx

I think we have these settling in periods too - how exciting! Got to send our acceptance note back first, got to be back by Friday, and then we'll hear about settling in, uniforms etc.

Kind of sad about him going to school but kind of excited too. I guess because I absolutely loved school and judging by his personality and how he gets on at pre-school, I think he will too. I really hope so. His confidence and happiness is far more important to me than A*s!!

Well more by luck than judgement I've taken Pamina's advice and am due to give birth in Sept as dd is due to start school then - so instead of trying to organise my jobshare to maximise seeing her to/from school I shall be able to do it all for the first year!
I am also feeling very spoilt as, although the school is only about 3/4 mile away, it is in the next village and there is no proper verge for the whole route so a minibus is provided - which leaves from a couple of hundred yards from our door. I'm also lucky in that, through a mixture of living in a tiny village where everyone knows everyone, and the fact that I've done a french club for 3-5s at our house for the last year, dd knows at least 2/3 of the intake at her school already( it's only an intake of 15!)and I will know a similar number of mums at least vaguely which I admit I'm relieved about as I've heard such awful stoires about the cliques and 'politics' and bitchiness and fallings out over the most silly things ( believing everything their dd/ds has said of what other children have done even when it's rubbish)at some school gates...
In addition the school provides pre-school care from 7.45 and till 5.30 ( I think, maybe 6pm)for those who need it, which I think is marvellous for a small village school - even thought I won't need it the first year.
Whether the school is actually any good remains to be seen - but children do seem to be happy there which mustn't be underestimated!

My DS starts in September too, and will also be 5 in january. I'm sure I'll be the mum crying at the gate while he skips happily off with his friends. he goes to pre-school 5 mornings a week and loves it (and all the little friends he has) I thought up until about 4 weeks ago that he was a sensitive little sole but he seems to have had an injection of testosterone and has suddenly become very "laddish" lots of cinfidence answering back, playfighting etc etc. Am secretly relieved, will have DD at home though she'll probably be off to preschool for a couple of mornings then (or just after !) too....

hi Gobbledigook no im not mad (well not much LOL) we will be moving too far away for them to continue at dd`s current school. actually better schools is one of the main reasons for our move. i know that the market is pretty slow at the moment, im just going to have to cross my fingers & hope for the best.
hope you get some luck with your house sale soon. i think that i would be a basketcase if our house took that long to sell.

Blimey Bayleaf, that sounds ideal for you and your DD. Many, many congratulations on your pregnancy as well - I remember you from the TTC boards far too long ago.

Oh well, it makes more sense then Firestorm but if I were you I'd keep her place for now because you just don't know what would happen with the sale of your house - hope you have better luck than us! Yes, I am a basket case believe me!!

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Azure - yes reading some of these posts I do feel vey lucky! ( mind you when you're pregnant after 3.5 years of ttc and 8 ivf attempts you feel pretty lucky all the time!!!)
I see you're expecting a week or so before me -Let's hope 4ish years is a 'good gap' for siblings!

dd has her visit/assessment on Monday. She seems really keen and ready but could be so different on the day. Wish us luck !

I have to go into work for a couple of hours today so I have promised DS that he can come along and visit his nursery. He is on best behaviour for me as he knows I won't take him otherwise .

Yep - the expense of school uniforms is pretty shocking. (That's why I suggested that you make a beeline for the racks of most expensive items first.) What is also shocking is the mediocre quality you get for such big expense. Many children at dd's school use their school uniform winter coat as their dress coat because of expense. One other note - it's laughable to see children on their way to school in enormous blazers!

laneydaye - Snap DS2 is 5 in January. Only problem is he doesn't want to go to big school he wants to stay at nursery forever!
Kayleigh - check with the school again if DS2 is only 4 in June he should be starting school in January not September. You will have had to apply for a place at school for him by the end of April but he shouldn't be starting unitl January 2006.

Rainbow - it varies where you are in the country. A lot of places have a single September intakes now.

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I will be requesting that DS2 starts as soon as he possibly can with the oldest children and on full days asap! He won't be 5 until March but he is soooooo ready for school and won't cope with no school or nursery in the early part of September.

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It's not such an issue for us as ds1 starting in Sept is 5 in March so he's about half way through the year. I'm more worried about when it comes to ds3's turn as he's Aug 29th! However, I've heard that they allocate classes by age so at least he should be with all the June, July, Aug birthdays. I don't plan on keeping him out till the January.

Ds1 is really ready for school I think - he keeps going on about it - 'I'm going to big school in September'! Ahhh. Think I'll cry when he's all togged up in his uniform!

HI Lunarsea - long time no see... my fault entirely of course! Hope you're ok - I've rarely felt better!

well, dd did really well - yeah !! She went into one of the nursery classes, with the age group of children she'd join in Reception, but still looked tiny ! We left her sitting on the carpet next to the teacher, and when we returned she'd made a windmill, played outside and generally had a great time. She even earned a special sticker. No tears, no fuss and I'm so proud of her.

Also picked up the uniform lists for both kids - need a mortgage just for that load - second hand sale here we come !

Well done to your DD LIZS. I haven't dare cost up DS's uniform - but the date of the second-hand uniform sale is firmly in my calendar.

Why are your uniform lists so expensive? Are they private schools?

Mind you, not had ours yet as not had our 'parents evening' or settling in sessions - maybe I'll get a shock when we get our list?!

Well done to your dd LIZS!

Thanks.

Yes it is private and most of the stuff has either a school logo or particular colourway available only through the school shop. Individually they are probably not that expensive - apart from things like blazers - it is just that you'll need say a couple of jumpers, dresses and so on, and, coming from a non-uniformed school, I'm not used to buying so much at once.

Ah I see. DS1 is going to a state primary - they have shirt and tie (so tie is specific to school) and jumper and trousers - not sure yet if anything is specific to school. They don't have a blazer though. I'm glad the uniform is shirt and tie rather than sweatshirts - I know sweatshirts are probably far more practical but I like them to look smart

I suppose I've got to remember like you say, you need a few of everything and then there will be PE stuff as well...eeeeek!

Hello all. At the doctor's last week I saw a leaflet about pre-school booster jabs, which I had forgotten all about. Have any of you been contacted about this yet, or have your children had these already? What is the procedure - is it a letter from the doctor or HV, or do you just arrange the appointment yourself? When my sister lived in the States her kids had to have the relevant jabs before they were accepted into the school, but I've never heard of that here.