YEAR 8 YEAR 8 YEAR 8 !!

[MaryAnnSingleton]

here we are, all ready for the new term !!

Ah, yes fine motor skills... must be a boy thing as DS finds this tricky too

The practice pass sounds great - DD would love that - if they had music studios!
Fine motor skills not just a boy thing - DD is dyspraxic so the tech subjects are a nightmare for her. She is making a mobile phone holder in tech this term - not sure which strand of tech this belongs to, not food tech, obv.
Glad the fruit cobbler was nice.
DD didn't have a good day today, but I don't know why, she won't tell me.
She got me to read to her at bedtime tonight though, which she only does when she is sad, v tired or ill.

LGP - your poor dd , will you try and get to the bottom of what was worrying her or will you wait for her to tell you in her own time?

I suspect it had something to do with netball. I hope she will tell me in her own time.
Anyway she has come home all happy today because she recited the whole elements song in science class and the teacher said she was the first person he had ever known get it all word perfect and gave her 20 merits!

20 merits wow - well done your dd . Glad she is perkier today.

Well, having had no school trips at all in yr7, ds1's school seems to be making up for it.

Outward bound-type adventure trip in Shropshire in July - £240

Spanish trip (by plane/coach) in February - £500

Both trips are only 4 days, so I'm a bit skeptical that they are really offering value-for-money. But I do want ds1 to have these opportunities/experiences.

Lucky him - getting to go on both!
There don't seem to be any trips for Year 8 this year, there was a French trip last year which some of her friends went on and the next one isn't until Yr9 or 10, which will hopefully be to Germany as I want her to do that one. It seems like her year will be the last to do German, as the Yr7s have switched to Spanish.

There were no trips for DS in Yr7 (apart from a skiing trip open to all in the Feb hols to Canada - £1300) which was not related to anything. Needless to say, he did not go.

I have just asked him if any trips have been mentioned for Yr8 and he said no. We would do our best though to send him. I never went on any school trips - not because my parents couldn't afford them but because my Mum couldn't trust anyone else to look after me so I want DS to have the opportunities that I didn't (as much as I would like to smother him in cotton wool, it is a good social experience for them isn't it)

Yes, we feel that way too.
I'm not keen to spend money on "stuff", but I don't mind forking out for "experiences", that I think they will benefit from.

The boys usually do a week's activity holiday in summer and ds1 chose not to this summer, and there wasn't a residential of any kind to pay for in yr7, and the boys have agreed we will go on family holiday to Scotland (Orkney and Sutherland) again next summer, [cos we've had such fab holidays previous years]. So I'm happy to pay for him to do something with school.

roisin - are you going to London in Oct half term - I think you may have mentioned it on fb? We went last Saturday and did the free museums in South Kensington - History Museum and the Science one. Both boys enjoyed them. I over did the walking though (had a knee op a couple of weeks ago and under estimated all the walking we were going to do) and was beside myself by mid-afternoon. If there had been more time, the Victoria and Albert Museum is just over the road.

Yes we are, I can't wait.
We are just juggling at the moment what we want to do - we have 3 full days (4 nights)

It's a long way for us and we only get there once every 18 months or so. So it's a balancing act between doing again everything we've done before, and doing some new things.

• We've booked to see War Horse (cost £££ )
• We definitely want to see the Aztec exhibition at the British Museum
• and the BBC tour at Shepherd's Bush (not done that before)

Dh is keen to do the new Darwin Centre at the NHM. I hope we'll get away with a quick pop into the Science Museum
The boys have mentioned the zoo, but I'm working on them, as we have a zoo here, and I don't like zoos anyway, and that would take up a whole day.
I want to take ds2 to The Globe Theatre as ds1 and dh have been, but we haven't.
I'm toying with the idea of doing Duck Tours again as we did that 6 years ago when the boys were tiny, and I'm not sure they can really remember.

... Aaarrgghhh... that's far too much, isn't it?!

Yep, tis loads roisin! You will need a holiday after all that!

We had got some cheap train tickets (which were non-refundable/couldn't change the date) before I knew I would be having the op, so I was slow at walking and we would have liked to have done more... but hey, there is always a next time!

Roisin, we went to London at New Year and saw War Horse - well worth the money as it was a fabulous experience. DH had been a bit dubious about taking DD3, as she was only 6,but all three children were enthralled - the older two had read the book anyway so knew more or less what to expect. We saw Joseph as well by way of contrast, as Lee Mead was just finishing.
We did the Globe tour as well and they all enjoyed it. And the Museum of London which they were not so keen on.
We only had three days and tried to pack in as much as possible, like you we only get to London every 18 months or so, but War Horse was definitely the highlight.

By the way, I absolutely hated London Zoo when we went, in my opinion is it absolutely not fit for purpose for the larger animals and the giraffes and gorilla in particular I felt very unhappy about.

Oh that's great LGP. I'll stop feeling guilty about the cost of the War Horse tickets
And definitely stick to my guns about the zoo.

DD and I went to the zoo on our last trip to London and I'd echo LGP thoughts about it. Warhorse sounds fab and I so want to see it, maybe next time we go down. DD and I are going to Berlin at half term thanks to cheap flights with Easyjet. I've down loaded a travel German course so hopefully I'll be able to ask where the toilet is if nothing else!

Dd is doing cooking in DT at the moment today the teacher is showing them how to make Chicken Tikka, which they'll make on Monday. Hopefully a veggie option will also be given if not I'll work out how long Dd needs to cook quorn so she can take part. I do wish they'd stick to puddings!

Oh berlimey.... DS has come in a foul foul mood

My friend was here having a coffee and DS burst in ran upstairs (without saying anything), got changed, ran back down and said he was going out. I said you really need to do any homework before you go anywhere. Well, he ranted and raved (both of us were sat there open mouthed) and he shot upstairs and I could hear him sobbing. Normally, he would come in and say he was starving and raid the biscuit tin so for him not to do that is very odd.

My friend left in haste - she knew this was very unlike DS so we decided I would go and see what was wrong. I knocked on his bedroom door and he told me to leave him alone in a really shouty voice

He has since come down, won't speak to me and looks very pale.

I am trying to act normal around him as if the event never took place and hopefully DH might be able to make some sense of it when he comes home.

ds1 is occasionally a bit like this. I'd give himm 10 mins or so to chill and relax, then go and give him a hug (if he's huggable) and say something like "You've clearly had a rotten day. What has happened to upset you?"

Good luck.

Oh dear bellavita I hope you can get to the bottom of it. Poor Ds

yike - hope he is ok xxx

Well, have managed to give him a few cuddles and he seems to have just snapped out of it . He did tell me he had been sneezing all day and that his nose was burning inside...

I asked him where he was shooting off to before and he said he was going to the shop to buy something with his left over dinner money.

Soooo, I think it is a combination of being a boy, being 12, being tired and feeling slightly eurgh due to maybe the onset of a cold.

We have gone through his homework and we have decided what needs doing now and what can wait until Sat morning.

He has also announced to us that he and two other boys who are doing the school website met with the deputy head today and they are getting an extra £50! So that is a total of £150 each child. He said who shall I get the cheque made payable to - I said ME!!!!

Glad it's all sorted out

Poor DS. Glad he's cheered up.
DD has been a bit up and down this week too.

gah ! ds hasn't got a list of ingredients for food tech next week,though I told him to go and ask...then I asked him to contact a friend in his group who is on facebook to ask him, but you'd think I'd made an outrageous request the harrumphing he did -why can't they see the sensible option- if he doesn't have the right stuff he'll look silly and scary teacher will be crosser !
Had a letter about his grade1 singing exam which is in December - nearly £30 plus £19 for accompanist.
Must do some practice shortly !