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!

Oh dear I feel old now. I congratulated myself on having my first fairly young and she will be at secondary school before I turn 40, however I went on to have more and my youngest will start primary two months after I turn 40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I go from being a fresh faced reception mum to an old haggard "is she the grandma" one.....!

PS totally tongue in cheek because I know I'm not really old, and also know that I'm probably a better mum to DC3 due to age and wisdom...!

This thread has made me smile but also made my head hurt trying to work out when my two hit secondary and my then age! Thankfully it seems a while ...

Not ready yet, I think I will be sad as is like the end of childhood years and starts of the teenager years; I do think this age is wonderful. Maybe I will feel different in a few years as they still go awhile to finish primary.

God I can't wait.

One year to go here,hoping it will fly by.Have a feeling we'll be limping over the finishing line.

Haha Mutley77. I get eyed up by the grannies. Was actually ACCUSED of being granny by somebody that was bringing their grandson. I booked for the hairdressers that afternoon.

LOL at the descriptions of being forced to listen to the recorder group. I sat through a whole musical evening once. You could see people looking at the programmes and trying to calculate how much longer they'd have to endure it.

At the end, the HT gave a closing speech and called for three encores. I was sitting at the back and I could actually see the entire audience's shoulders slump with disappointment because they'd thought it was all over.

I think that HT was a bit of a sadist actually!

Mutley, I was 42 when I had my last baby. By the time he was in Reception, I must have been about 46 ... I know some of his mates at primary school had parents who were over 20 years younger than us!

My eldest (almost 14) started primary school in 2005, my youngest (10.5 months) will leave in 2025. Holy shit, that will be 20 years of constantly having a child at primary school. That's a depressing thought.

I do have dc2 moving on to secondary school in September so that leaves just dc3 at primary for the next 3 years then when she leaves in the July dc4 starts in reception in the September. Argh!!

I have 7 years done in Primary, and won't finish until 2023!

Oh gawd you're giving me recorder flashbacks 'I've got the heebie jeebies and I can't sit still'

only 27 primary school drop offs left!

I've just worked out that I have done 18 years of primary school! And have another 4 to go!. Not all at the same school though.

I'm on a 3 week countdown :-) Just had last sports day (which was a little sad as always enjoyed those), still got Merit Presentation afternoon to come, which is by far the most boring event ever. You have to sit through the same children playing the piano/singing/reciting etc (they are all very good to be fair) but I have zero interest in it.

For 1.5 hrs boredom there is 30 seconds when your own childs gets called to the stage to receive a certificate (bronze. silver, gold or platinum) I already know which certificate child will get as it's in their homework book..

There are definitely aspects of the Primary school I will miss, but fancy dress, merit awards and silly girls scrabbles are not on that list..

DD is definitely ready for seniors. I've tried to back off this year as I know it will come as a massive shock to me. I have got used to not seeing other parents (actually enjoyed that part), and I've got used to not getting so many letters as Yr6 are expected to tell us more themselves.

another benefit of leaving school behind - the end to receiving junk mail hand delivered by you child.

I've just removed about half a kilo or so from DS's bag and put it straight in the recycling bin. (He stopped handing it over about a year ago).

heifer sad to break this to you ...but you get silly teenage girl squabbles instead..and they seem to be even more intense and even more petty!
Apparently I am heartless because DD1 wanted to know how to cheer her broken hearted friend up and I told DD1 not to worry too much - I thought her friend would get over it quite soon seeing as it was someone she had never actually met - had been chatting to online for a few weeks and skyped once....
(And don't start me on the dramas of room sharing on their trip...how one person refused to go if they had to share a room with another - everything was rearranged to accommodate this a week before...and rearranged again on the way there as they then wanted to share )

I've done 12 years of primary and have one more left to go. Lucky 13!

I'm heartily sick of my dc's school. I've always felt that the school was run for the benefit of the senior management team and the inspectors, and that everyone else is irrelevant, especially the parents, who the school keeps at a very long arm's length. How can a three form entry school not have any sort of PTA? How? I've never heard of this is any school. Years ago a group of parents and myself tried to start a PTA - twice, but got worn down by the relentlessly controlling and undermining behaviour of the head and eventually gave up. All decisions about fundraising, and discussions about how money raised will be spent are done with no discussion with parents.

Individual teachers and TA's have been great, but the school itself - meh.