Oldest starts at secondary school next week. I can’t believe we’re at this stage already but there you go. Time flies. Over the summer break, we’ve been helping him prepare by getting everything he needs and it has been quite the learning experience for me as well as him. Here, then, are five things I …
Another school year is almost over and there’s definitely a strong sense of limping over the finish line. Last week, my three kids had their respective transition sessions with their teachers for next year, followed by their sports days this week. Ordinarily, this is a time of excitement but, this time around, things have been …
Somehow or other, oldest is starting secondary school in just six months. He has a place at our first choice and we’re impressed by what we’ve heard about it so far. But I’m so not ready for him to move up from primary school! As soon as he got his place, my own experiences of …
With the latest round of remote learning over and children back in schools, I’m sure many parents are breathing a sigh of relief. For our part, we’ll miss having our three around but won’t miss the stress of virtual lessons. I like to look at everything as a learning experience though, so it’s time to …
Disclosure: This is a paid collaboration with Night Zookeeper. We’re a couple of weeks into the new lockdown restrictions so are getting used to home learning again. I’ve been really impressed by how much the school is doing to keep everything going. As well as providing regular live lessons and offline tasks, teachers have encouraged us …
Youngest has been at primary school for just over a month and has settled in really well. It seems like an age ago that we last had a child in reception – four years ago, for the record. This is making me feel old, which isn’t surprising as I’m at least a decade older than …
Last week, parents were nervously waiting to find out their kids’ school places. We were among them and, for me at least, it was strangely nice to worry about something other than coronavirus and its wider implications for a day. Having gone through the process twice before, we were braced for a long wait. It …
I haven’t had a good rant on here for a while, so let’s talk about the fundamentally stupid entities that are school attendance awards. Oldest came back today with a shiny new school-branded notebook. His younger brother didn’t. They’re both good boys who work hard and earn lots of praise from their brilliant teachers. So, …
Last year I wrote a post about learning to let my kids make mistakes so they can learn from them. It’s a learning curve that I’m very much still on and it’s far from easy. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to debate a related topic on national radio. If you follow BBC Radio 5 Live’s …
Earlier this year, I wrote a post about homework in primary schools. I was concerned that my older son was getting too much of it and concluded that a balance needed to be struck. Since then, however, my thoughts have changed a little. With no letup in the amount set and with his younger brother …