School (yet again)

So yesterday was our 'trial' school day. A two hour session in the morning with lots of the other kids who will be starting in September and then a parents session in the late afternoon to meet the Head and Deputy Head, buy uniform, etc.

Lia absolutely loved it. She did jigsaws, counting, painting, plasticine, sticking, jumping, climbing, hopscotch and much much more. She also got friendly with lots of the other children which is good, including several that live nice and close to us and I made friends with their Mums which is also good.

All in all it was a very positive start - I had to drag Lia out of there when it was time to leave, she didn't want to go. The teachers were fantastic and there were a couple of parents there who have kids in the school telling us how well they settled in. All very friendly and welcoming. The Head Teacher is very open and friendly with a great sense of humour which pleases me as I still remember my first Head with real affection and I'd love for Lia to have that. My Mum still sees Mr Davies and he always askes after my brother and I although that could mean we were unforgettable in a bad way as much as a good way LOL.

So we're now all looking forward to September. Lia only has five weeks left at nursery as we're on holiday next week and then we're off to Greece for ten days at the end of August. She's so excited about starting school - long may it last!

School

Good news, we got the school we wanted!

Working Hours

Regular readers will have noticed that Lia starts school this year - I might have mentioned it once or twice!

I currently work full time with one day a week working from home but I want that to change because I'm determined that I want to be picking Lia up when school is out, not having a child minder pick her up. I would hate to be picking her up at 5pm, throwing dinner together, bathing her and putting her to bed without time to take a breath - I know it's the reality for some people but I don't want to be that kind of mother.

So my plan is to request a drop down to part time so I work the equivalent of four days a week but spread the hours over five days - four days is 30 hours so over five days that 6 hours a day plus a 30 min lunch break meaning I can do 8am - 2.30pm five days a week.

Legally work has to be flexible for parents so I'm hoping they'll go for the idea. At a push I could maybe do 8.30am - 3pm but that would make it tight for me to get to the school in time (it's about a 20 min drive if there's no traffic).

I'd then have Lia home straight from school, time to do homework with her, cook dinner, play etc before bedtime. Perfect.

The downside of this is that DH would have to do the morning drop off at 8.30am and, given he has a 1hr train journey to work he'd not arrive at the office until 10am. His work would be okay with that as some of the guys there already start at that time but it would mean him not getting home till much later in the evenings which isn't great for him.

However, he's been talking recently about looking for work closer to home so maybe this will be the push he needs to do just that. He could even afford to drop his salary slightly as we'd be saving a huge amount not paying his train fare every month. He's also in the lucky position of being able to be choosy about jobs as he's quite settled where he is so can afford (all going well in this economic climate) to hold out for the perfect job.

Another option might be a morning childminder that will have Lia for an hour, give her breakfast and drop her off to school which wouldn't be perfect but would still be better than having DH lose his evenings.

As for the drop in my salary, it won't be close to the amount we pay for the nursery so we won't be any worse off financially, even if we pay a morning childminder.

Once we get confirmation of which school Lia will be attending (and therefore what the hours will be) I'll make my application to work and see what they say.

School Part 3

This is the final update for now (I promise!)

We went to view the two schools whose catchment area we are in, the one next door and a CofE School about ten minutes walk away, and we've put down the CofE as our preference.

The CofE school is much nicer and DH is happier with the inclusion of the church. It has around 150 pupils aged 4 - 11 and has a really nice family atmosphere. They also have great links with the community and encourage parents to be involved as much as possible and it was just a nice place to be.

The school next to us wasn't awful but it's much bigger (350 pupils) and much less 'friendly'. I didn't like the fact that the classrooms all have the toilets and cloakrooms attached and the pupils eat lunch at their desks so there is no need for them to ever leave their room and mix with the other kids. They have one full school assembly a week which is the only time they are all together. They also had less external activities.

Another thing that really bothered me was that one of the teachers had a facial piercing below her lip. I am old fashioned enough to think that inappropriate and yes I know it makes no difference to her skill as a teacher but it really put me off. There seemed a much more defined line between staff and pupils at the CofE School, a level of respect that seemed lacking in the other one.

Anyway, as those are the only two schools close enough to us for it to be easy for DH to drop off we aren't bothering to look at any more. I won't be heart broken if Lia ends up at the school next door but I am prepared to try and appeal against the decision. Interestingly the CofE School told us they get quite a few transfers from the other School - three already this year - so that might be an option in the future.

So now we wait and hope. We'll know the decision at the end of March...

School Part 2

Firstly, thanks to those who've left comments with advice or emailed me, it's all been really helpful.

I forgot to put in the previous post that we have an appointment to go and look round the school next door this Friday (but thanks Ginnie and Sharon for suggesting going to have a look). I picked Lia's nursery on gut feeling alone and that's been a success so hopefully my gut will help out this time too.

I also like Sharon's point about how the teachers engage Lia, that wouldn't necessarily occur to me, or to look at the artwork etc that's displayed around. See, there's many things wrong with the www but it's fantastic that people I've never met IRL can help me out so generously.

Andrea, thanks to you too for de-lurking and letting me know your thoughts, I have a feeling I'll end up like a job interviewee asked 'do you have any questions for us' and not know what to say but I have made a mental note to ask about bullying.

DH and I had a long chat last night and I think we both feel that the school next door is our best option as long as neither of us hate it on sight. It's not only the convenience for him dropping Lia off, it's simple if anyone else is doing the pick up / drop off too (ie my Mum if she's staying over). Also in a dire emergency the old lady next door would be able to take Lia in.

At the moment we don't know that many people who live local to us. It's weird I know because we've lived here for 10 years now but neither of us have actually worked in the town we live in. I'm actually looking forward to Lia starting school as I'll be meeting other parents and hopefully get a bit more involved in our local community.

We both hope that sometime in the next 12 - 24 months we are able to change jobs and work locally but you just never know. DH started a new job this time last year and had been hoping to be closer to home but ended up more than doubling his commute time for a job that was too good to refuse!

Dh is still going to have a chat with the GO Church just in case they have any thoughts to add and also to find out about the Greek Sunday School. I've also asked a colleague who's wife is a teacher if she has any words of advice. She is based in the next town over to us but she may know about the school or at least be able to give us some pointers for questions to ask.

I've stopped worrying so much now I have a (basic) plan of action but I'm now more worried about the fact that DH is hysterical with laughter about the fact the teacher showing us around is called Miss Chick. Why are men so infantile??? LOL

School

Unbelievably (at least for me) Lia is due to start school this year. 3rd September to be exact (which is co-incidentally DH's name day* so hopefully it's a date he'll remember).

We have to get the application in to the Local Council by 20th February so I'm now going slightly mad looking at School League tables and not really knowing where to start.

That last sentence may seem really strange to those who know where we live because we live next door to a Primary School. Literally, next door. The school buildings occupy the land at the end of our garden and the entrance to it runs down the side of our driveway/garden.

However, it's not the best school around. In fact it's quite low down in the league tables. So I'm now torn with convenience and wanting the best for her. All this is made more difficult by the fact that we live in a town I didn't grow up in so I don't know the schools. I also work in a different town (as does DH) so I don't even work with anyone who knows the schools and Lia is in nursery where I work so nobody there knows the schools as all the other kids will go to the schools in this town.

Hence me going a bit mad trying to get information on the schools. It doesn't help that the 2008 league tables are delayed now until March so I'm working on old data and the new data won't arrive till a month after the application deadline.

So the facts that I have at my disposal are:

1. My brother and I both went to a not-so-great primary school and we did pretty well for ourselves.

2. The school is next door to the house which would be so convenient for dropping off and picking up. Especially for DH as I have our car on work days.

3. We're about 500 yards outside the catchment area of the best school near us.

4. It probably doesn't even matter what school I pick as the Council just allocate as they see fit

The only other piece of the puzzle we haven't considered is Religion. I'm non-religious but DH is Greek Orthodox and Lia was christened GO too. I know there aren't any GO schools around but it may be that we think about Catholic or CofE Schools for her. DH is going to ask at Church this weekend if there is any affiliation between the Greek Church and schools in the area (there is quite a large Greek Community in the town.)

I have briefly considered the option of a fee paying school as the cost would roughly equate to that of her current nursery fees but if we have another child we'll need that money for their nursery fees and if we don't have another child I was hoping we could use the money to overpay our mortgage.

Also, I think that, given both DH and I are pretty intelligent, we are more than able to assist her with things at primary level so it's better to save our money now and consider a fee paying Secondary school if it comes to it (the closest Secondary school to us is REALLY not one I'd like to see her attending).

Honestly, as I keep telling friends who are having their first babies and who can't see beyond the worry of giving birth, it's nothing compared to the decisions one has to make once the child is here...

*In Greece you have a Name Day that is generally viewed as more important than your birthday - it's the day of the Saint whose name you have, so if you're called George your Name Day would be 23rd April (although that's a crappy choice because they have tendency to move name days around Easter so they don't get in the way, so George's all over Greece often have their Name Day moved). However, anyone who doesn't have a birthday around Easter has a set Name Day and, as mentioned above, DH's is 3rd September.