rachel.blog

Tag: school

  • Repeating a year at school

    We got some great news today about Daniel: it looks like they’re going to let him repeat year 5 next year at school. It might seem like a strange thing to be happy about and also a very simple thing to arrange but it really wasn’t. They don’t let children repeat years in Scotland for two…

  • The school garden

    I spent most of my day off yesterday in the garden at school with Ben and a friend, weeding and putting in new plants. There’s a small garden there but it has been neglected and is a pretty sorry sight. Someone at some point has put in some bamboo which was a big mistake because it just takes…

  • Flatland

    The school playground saga continues and we’re in the process of getting several quotes. Companies that install new playground equipment offer a no-obligation design and quote service and I met one fellow yesterday afternoon to show him the play areas and explain what we wanted. I told him that we can’t have swings and slides and I…

  • How many girlfriends does a boy need?

    Daniel said to Ben the other night, “Did you have any girlfriends when you were at school?”. Here’s the ensuing conversation: Me: Do you have a girlfriend, Daniel? Daniel: Creeper says that’s none of your business. Me: Is it Lucy [not her real name]? Daniel: She’s one of them.

  • Fabricating data

    No, this post is not about climate scientists fabricating data to make it look like the earth is warming because they’re not and the earth really is warming. This post is about Daniel’s science homework. He had to perform an experiment which involved observing the difference between evaporation in a sunny spot and evaporation in…

  • A momentous week

    It’s a momentous week for me. Both my babies are at school. I no longer have a child at home. Elizabeth started school for the first time on Monday and although I’m very happy about this, and so is she, I have felt a bit teary waving her off everyday since then. School has been…

  • Volunteering at British schools

    I loved everything about the state-funded school my son attended for 6 months when we were in the UK and have written about the experience here. In most respects, I preferred the English school to the New Zealand school he attends now. I say most respects because there was one thing about the English school that was…

  • Running

    I am hobbling around like an 80-year-old today. The reason for this is that I’ve started running. I hate running but it’s exercise and I no longer have Busby for that. But because I am not used to running I have sore muscles. My calves are sore, my hamstrings are sore and my thighs are…

  • State schooling in the UK

    I thought I would write about my experiences with the UK state schooling system now that Daniel has been at school here for a good three months. Note that my experience relates to just one school in the UK which may or may not be representative of others but I think it’s still worth talking…

  • Danielisms

    Once a week, I spend an hour and a bit helping out in Daniel’s class at school. Daniel likes it, I like it and it helps his teacher who works on a ratio of 1 to 25. It’s also nice for me to see what they’re doing at school so that I can provide the…