I am just starting my last ever half term in primary and <whispers>... hurrah!

[SonorousBip]

I have had DC at the same primary school for the last 10 years and my last child is leaving at the end of this term. I think we are all ready to move on now . There are two teachers who have taught different dc of mine continuously for the last 5 years, meaning I feel I know them better than some members of my own family. Its nice, but there are only so many ways of saying the same thing at parents evenings and in reports.

Also ... I'll fess up ... I've stopped doing the detailed comb-through with conditioner when we get the nit letter, as we seem to three times a term - just have a bit of a poke around and see if anything is moving.

I will never have to make another sodding costume for World Book Day. Or sit with a forced smile listening to other people's children play the recorder badly (or, dear God, the cello).

The cool indifference of secondary beckons invitingly!

I just worked it out - we did the primary school thing 1993-2013. Bloody hell. 20 years of that shit.

I was only a couple of years in when I figured out that wearing a Walkman (that gives away how long ago it was) and shades when I went to pick the kids up, cut out all that extraneous school-gate babble.

SooticaTheWitchesCat - you might not feel that way three years from now. When my eldest went up to secondary, it felt way too early.

But then your focus shifts and the concerns of 7 year olds just doesn't seem relevant any longer, whereas the teenage years become highly relevant.

For me, its been as though DS2 has just been dragging my attention back to primary school, when I can see that he has been ready to move to secondary school for most of this last year.

I got a text about a cake sale yesterday and the next newsletter will doubtless be full of stuff about doing up the KS1 playground (as it always is), but I really feel like its got nothing to do with my family any more.

Ugghh I'm exactly half way through a 13 year stint, eldest in y6 just about to leave and youngest in reception. I don't do many school runs these days due to work - this has done wonders for my stress levels, there are 4 schools with a grand total of about 1500 children all within a very small area and everyone drives and parks like a dickhead. It really is hell on earth. I will not miss that when the time comes.

I'm with Soocita. My eldest and very much pfb is leaving in six weeks and I'm really quite upset about it. For the whole of my youngest child's life she has taken her sibling to school (5yr difference) we walk together every day. Not having my pfb on these daily journeys is making me well up just thinking about it.

Also PFB has had some difficulties - I feel that primary school has been kind to us and the children are lovely, there's not guarantee that secondary will be as kind and I am worried for PFB.

I'm that sad at my eldest leaving that I'm harbouring for another child!

I'm not a fan of world book day or easter bonnets but it's the time where, as parents you're still very involved in their world. I think as they get older it'll change, especially in secondary.

However I know several parents in OP's position who are quite happy to be at the end of KS1&2.

One more year to go for us.

I won't miss the endless reminder texts, petty arguments, ridiculous homework tasks, other parents or compulsory assemblies.

I am so finished with primary.

The best thing about Secondary is there is no more hanging round trying to negotiate the mummy mafia in the playground and at the school gates.

Everything becomes simple.
You drop them off.
You pick them up.

If you're not in the mood, you don't have to talk to anyone, smile at anyone, interact with anyone, dodge anyone. You are more in control. Hell, you can even be sat in your car in your pyjamas if you want.

another one who dislikes the small village atmosphere of primary school

Everything becomes simple.
You drop them off.
You pick them up.

Or even better, they get the bus ??

I think those who are sad at the moving on of their PFB will feel the same way as the rest of us when their youngest is ready to leave. You do let go a little bit because you have to with the eldest when they start secondary and your realise life is much simpler if you are less involved in the school. You also become a teeny bit jaded, if you have done everything once before because doing it again doesn't have the same novelty value even if you thoroughly enjoyed it first time round.

I am sure there will be a few tears on the final day of primary especially of DS2 shows any sign of upset or if I have to go to the Leaver's assembly where the rest of the school sing the leavers' song, but the future is exciting too. For us, September marks the first year when both my boys were at the same school. DS2 was only in the infants (although on the same site, it is a separate school) when DS1 was in the juniors. I think it is nice their paths are likely to cross in the corridors for the first time ever.

Another good thing about secondary is they tell you how your child is doing. It might only be a traffic light system but at least you get the message about whether they are on target and working hard or not.

At primary school, I always felt like I needed to have my wits about me at parents evening because nothing was ever bluntly stated and usually the important info was the stuff that wasn't said.

e.g "DS1 has good ideas." - does that mean but they are only ever ideas, or and he's all too willing to share them or is it even just a straightforward compliment? I never worked it out!

Oh ad secondary teachers typically have some subject knowledge of what they are teaching. So, I'll never again see homework asking my child to choose a US state to do research about e.g. San Francisco.

Primary School is when children are at their easiest, they are very low stress , get themselves washed and dressed and are really quite independent. Their teachers know them inside out and care about them more than any secondary teacher ever will. You may say goodbye to the school gate but hello to having no idea where they are, who they are with or what they are doing and you certainly aren't included. Don't knock primary school, it's a piece of cake compared with the teenage years although they do become fantastic company, help with chores and you cherish every minute they condescend to spend with you , because in five minutes they are leaving home.

This thread is about seeing the last child through primary so I should imagine that most of us already know what secondary school and teenagers are like. It seems that most of us were happy enough to be primary parents whilst it lasted but we are already doing the teenage parenting malarkey and are still glad, on the whole, that primary is over. The ones who aren't knocking it seem to be the ones who haven't had the joys of secondary school aged children yet.

I get the best of both worlds really. My children will be at secondary but I still keep a toe in the primary pond by continuing to be a governor at the boys' old juniors. Not sure if it will be easier or harder when how the school does is not so personal.

And cake sales, no more cake sales! I can't bake and have not improved at all in the last 8 years. One has moved on to high school and I still have one left for 3 years at primary and won't bake another thing ever again.

High school has it's own set of quirks, but why let on now!

Oh god yes the bake sales. Ugh. Make cakes, bring them in then buy them back again after school. Great.

Can't imagine it, I'm totally dreading secondary school. DD1 is in year 4, and it seems too close for comfort to me.

I dread not knowing anything about their friends or their parents, letting her go off on the train/bus by herself, not having a clue what she is doing at school, relying on her to remember her own homework, her eating chips everyday, horrible teenage boys trying to grope her.... so many things.

Maybe I'm weird but i love primary school, dressing up days and all.

hiddenhome

I love the reminder texts and the information overload, I like to know what they're doing, hate the thought of no regular communication from school.

Oh I was just about to say 'no more cake sales'. In fact no more having to do anything if you don't want to. At secondary school the kids bake cakes for their sales, the kids do the charity stuff, the kids have to organise the food for their tech etc etc (and if mine don't they don't have the food for their lesson - simples). Youngest DC is now in Year 7. I did 14 years of primary school including 9 years back-to-back of nativity plays. Boy did I shed a tear of joy when the last one of those was over. Jaded? Moi? I HATED world book day with a vengeance. It seemed to be a conspiracy of mainly working mothers (teachers) finding jobs for other working mothers to do when we were already exhausted by our day and evening jobs. At least in secondary school the kids have to sort out their own damned costumes.

DS1's High School is brilliant at communication. There's a parents' Portal where you can see progress, school reports, commendations and attendance. Check on homework etc.
You can email the teachers and they reply very quickly. Way better communication than First School.

As for teenage boys groping. No idea where you have got that from Vicki

Vickisuli - I promise neither of my boys will ever try to grope your DD!

50 is not old to have your youngest starting secondary. However I'll turn 40 on the 31st of August just as my youngest will start secondary the week after. This is 7 years away yet though but thinking about it I'm kind of glad me and dh had our kiddies young as we won't be past it once our all our kids are old enough to go and do there own thing lol.

I was 55 when my child went to secondary school.

Bliss not to have costumes, petty reminders about everything, tedious school plays and nativity performances where every single child has to have a part and waves at their mother and everyone thinks it is so sweet , stupid conversations about reading levels etc etc etc.

I am amazed (but pleased) at the differences though - when a child is at primary you seem to have to sign 101 bits of paper if they take a step out of the school grounds but at secondary they can be off to a sports match with no notice, no idea who is driving or where they are going or what time they are back. .

Also the pettyness over packed lunches stops immediately, all those poncey letters about 'healthy lunch boxes' and now 90% of the secondary school kids seem to pick up a Greggs meal on their way into school. .

because in five minutes they are leaving home - well, it's a long five minutes if you have a stroppy teenager .

I had to drive through a bunch of yr 11 boys going into McDonald's yesterday. Presumably they had just finished an exam as it wasn't school lunch time.

Packed lunches are indeed free of the lunch box police although that isn't really an issue here.

Vicki - as I said earlier, you will probably feel very differently when your final child is leaving primary to your first one leaving. For a start, 2 years will make a huge difference to your elder child anyway and she will probably be ready to move on by the end of yr 6 and when you already have a child in secondary, you will have started moving on from primary anyway so the younger children won't be facing such a huge upheaval anyway..

My boys aren't gropers either. I think you will find that most teenage boys aren't.

4 notes on the recorder (Go and tell Aunt Nancy) OP is quite advanced.

We used to have the recorder group doing their pieces each performance. The only thing with the recorder group is it was voluntary so, they used to do a set of pieces starting simple and getting more complicated, and the children would drop out as the pieces got too hard for them.

The first piece they always played (to a backing track) was the B note Blues... consisting only of the note B. Followed by something similar which was entirely the G note. Then we'd move onto the BAGA tune. Which had those notes repeated several times.
If we were really lucky there would be a couple still standing to give us a different tune: usually something like Three Blind Mice, which adds the note D' and C'.
Occasionally there were some advanced ones that would do something in harmony, or with the tenor recorders. Usually very well.

I will say they always play them very nicely-no squeaks or anything, but even when one of mine was part of the group I used to groan inside when the recorder group started. I felt 2 tunes with just one note in was really ridiculous.

My middle one is year 6. I have 2 feelings, one of relief and one of sadness. She's moving away from most of her friends, but she's had a hard time there in a lot of ways. I think a change will do her good. Only thing is the secondary she's moving to, whereas it's been brilliant for her big sister, I suspect she may struggle as she's top middle, so may well be forgotten in the size. But there's no better alternative we can do.

Ah yes, remember those days fondly. My youngest finished at primary last year and it was very sad to say goodbye but oh boy was she ready to move on! Having spent 16 years in primary with 3 children I have to say those days were the best though, there's such a detachment at secondary, huge independence and very little parental involvement, the worries also change as their hormones kick in!!