Starting School in September club...

[MillionDollarBaby]

Well I've seen all the due in clubs.. My dd is starting school this September and is already looking forward to it. Anybody else?

my dd starts reception in September. she's doing aftenoons in the school's nursery atm and love it. she'll be 4.5.

I didn't put my DDs age! She will be 5 in december so she will be about 4yrs and 9months in Sept. A good age I reckon. She can't wait. I have had no letter confirming a place yet, but seeing as we live in a very small village I cannot see there being a problem :)

mine's starting in August too, just 2 days before 7th birthday. Poor soul will always have birthday on 1st coouple of days of school year. He seems cool about is. I feel nervous cos don't know enough about system and will have to be more organised, disciplined, get him out early, homework etc etc

good luck to eveyone.

We are hoping to get a uniform list sent to us soon. I know it all comes from John Lewis and that's it. Hoping to get away with two pinafores. They have tabards as part of the uniform for meal times and practical sessions, so hoping that'll help keep them clean!

My DS can be added to the list (he'll be 4 and 9 months).

MONKEY - where do you live that your child starts school so much later than in UK? My DD is 7 and has been at school for three years! I wonder which system works best because surely they all catch up by a certain age anyway?

We're waiting for the confirmation letter too. DD starts reception in September. She won't be too worried as she has been full time at a prep school for over a year.

we're in Switzerland. I'm glad to be here. I wouldn't have been happy anbout sending him out 3 years ago and he def. wouldn't have been ready. As it is , he is and is raring to go. Even once he starts, it's only 5 mornings and a couple of afternoons a week.

Some people wouldn't like it (it's a nightmare for example if you want to work), but it suits us all very well.

KBear - DH's cousins are in Sweden and didn't start school till much later than in the UK. The eldest girl came over to go to school in the UK for a year when she was about 13 or 14. She was actually way ahead in every subject than all her peers. She is a bright girl but even so. The difference was remarkable.

Can I join you? ds1 starts in Sept and he can't wait, but will be very upset to leave nursery as he's been there for over 2 yrs. All his friends went last year. He'll be 5 when he starts because his birthdays sept. So sad he couldn't have gone last year

I hadn't even thought about school uniform, I'm so unorganised!

hula - there must be something in that then, starting later. AND they have an incredible flair for languages that most British kids don't have - I think we could learn alot from our European/Scandinavian friends! I would love to hang on to DS for another year!

got a letter yesterday inviting us to a new parents meeting. Trouble is its at 10.40 in the morning. I'm a teacher so I may not be able to go. I will have to apply for special leave, which is a pain but I want to go as DD1 starting school is important!

DS will be starting too but where? Should find out next month.

He's only 3.5 (4 in July) and just seems too little. He is shattered after playschool and that is only 2 mornings a week! He'll be doing mornings at school until Easter but 5 mornings!

The schools here send the teacher and teaching assistant round to your house to have a chat with the child. Sounds like a great idea for the child to meet them in a friendly setting and for the teacher to meet the family but the tidying and cleaning involved!

Dd (5 in June) starts school in the middle of August (we're in Scotland) Ds will be in P3 but they may be in the same class (very small school). I don't think she is particularly looking forward to it, and I am a bit worried how she will cope (not that I let her know this!) as she is very quiet and shy, and is mute at nursery. She is also tiny - less than a metre tall.

Knowing my dd she will surprise me

KBear - agree with the language thing, but they start it early. DH's cousins speak English and Swedish fluently. they also speak French and German, as well as bits of other langauges form near tot hem

DD starts French for her second year, which I am really pleased with.

re the languages, it's not just that they start early, but they're seen as important by most people. In Switzerland of course there are 4 national languages. Many kids grow up bi-lingual, or at the very least with a reasonable working knowledge of a second, third langauge, plus they're surrounded by several languages (cooking instructions usually in 3 languages eg).

Plus the obvious need to learn English for people wanting more than a manual job.

In England there's still the attitude "what's the point, everyone speaks English". Plus there's not really any real exposure to another language on a daily basis.
The whole importance thing just doesn't exist (in general) in the UK

Do you think it's the way language is taught here? I remember trawling through German lessons at school, stressing over the grammar and tenses etc but I'm sure in 5 years of German lessons I should be able to speak it now and I can't. Envious of those that can speak another language.

Got letter from the school the other day - it says dd won't start fulltime until April 2007 - wasn't expcting that! it's going to be a nightmare logistically! I thought waiting until Christmas to go fulltime was bad enough.

She's used to being an ursery all day most days too.

DS1 starting at local Catholic primary. the first week, he is mornings, second week mornings and stay for lunch, then he's full time from the third week! He is really looking forward to it

DD's new teacher has been into nursery to see her today. Picking DD up in about half an hour so will see what happened and how it went soon.

The sluglet is starting school in September too. She's not going to the same one as all her nursery friends (we've got her into the oversubscribed middle class school), but we've sold it to her on the basis that she's going to the same school her Daddy went to. She's terribly excited and somehow convinced that the teachers will remember dh, and possibly she'll have the same teacher as her dad had. Very amusing given dh is 40.

DD2 starts in September, only till 12 for the first term! Wish it was full days as she's ready now. She's looking forward to it, but it helps that her big sister is there already so she's used to the school, knows some of the older children etc. DS starts next year and then thats it, just me at home during the day - what will I do? Could do with earning some money, but want to be there for kids at the end of the day.