Was I right about Daughter coming home more dishevelled in winter uniform? Not entirely although she did come home one day with her collar turned inside out, which on closer inspection (erm, when she got changed for trampolining) was because her entire polo shirt was inside out.
Next week she will have to be more hevelled on TWO separate days. Wednesday - whole school photo. Thursday - individual photo. I hope they don't do PE with Reception in the morning and then photograph them in the afternoon. Complicating factor - I will be here on Wednesday morning, albeit in a hurry to get out and go to work, but I won't be here on Thursday as I'm away with work. So Husband is entrusted with getting Daughter to school in a reasonable state on Wednesday (with some oversight from me) and then doing it completely unsupervised on Thursday. I will have to leave instructions. He can't do anything other than put her hair in a ponytail (not that I can do much more) but from the front she won't look any different in a ponytail or a plait. Pigtails would have been nice, but not to be.
Lunch continues to go fairly well. Daughter apparently completely forgot that she had a second compartment in her lunchbag one day last week, despite having had lunch from it at home on most days three weeks in a row, and didn't notice she had a sandwich. She had a school dinner on the other day she was in for lunch, and couldn't finish it because she had to go and play with her imaginary friends. She does appear to be making some real friends, but has a large coterie of the imaginary variety at the moment (originally six, but they keep having babies).
I've had to turn down the chance of some initial governor training because I'm away with work. Meanwhile, I've bought a book on the subject, but have neglected it because the same Amazon order also brought me Battle Royale, which I'm currently reading.
I had hoped that my Amazon recommendations would become an even more peculiar mishmash as a result of this - school governance, manga, children's books and slow cooker recipes. But I think I might have broken their algorithm.
Showing posts with label packed lunch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label packed lunch. Show all posts
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Not a lot to report
Where did the last nine days go?!
We're now on the cusp of the next stage of school settling in - when the morning sessions start to have lunch appended to them. Exciting! It's also when I start to ease myself back into work, which is less exciting.
Daughter is having a packed lunch on Monday and Wednesday, school dinner on Friday. This is with familiarisation with school dinners in mind, plus her nursery friend is doing the same, and if they have different lunches they'll be at different tables - woe. Friday is also chip day.
I have to send the money in on Monday, not entirely sure how this will work - she'll need to give the money in, having taken it out of her bookbag, but will need to understand that it's not that day that she'll be having the hot meal.
Several of us were up at the school office on Friday, having waited all week to receive a menu for school dinners, and having NOT received a menu. I ended up being tasked by Daughter's teacher to find out what week the school is on, because armed with that knowledge you can find out online what is for dinner next week.
My hour and a half introductory governor session on Thursday turned into the entire morning, which was okay as I had no other plans. We (new foundation governor and I) attended assembly - the first assembly Reception children had attended. I could see Daughter down at the front, was willing her NOT to turn round. It was a very good assembly (actual subject would give away the identity of the school, so not saying anything) but Daughter couldn't remember anything about it when I picked her up.
First governors' meeting on Tuesday - my parents were supposed to be taking Daughter for the time between me going to the meeting, and Husband arriving home, but they're now otherwise occupied. So I'm going to see if our neighbour can fill the gap, otherwise Husband will have to come home early.
We're now on the cusp of the next stage of school settling in - when the morning sessions start to have lunch appended to them. Exciting! It's also when I start to ease myself back into work, which is less exciting.
Daughter is having a packed lunch on Monday and Wednesday, school dinner on Friday. This is with familiarisation with school dinners in mind, plus her nursery friend is doing the same, and if they have different lunches they'll be at different tables - woe. Friday is also chip day.
I have to send the money in on Monday, not entirely sure how this will work - she'll need to give the money in, having taken it out of her bookbag, but will need to understand that it's not that day that she'll be having the hot meal.
Several of us were up at the school office on Friday, having waited all week to receive a menu for school dinners, and having NOT received a menu. I ended up being tasked by Daughter's teacher to find out what week the school is on, because armed with that knowledge you can find out online what is for dinner next week.
My hour and a half introductory governor session on Thursday turned into the entire morning, which was okay as I had no other plans. We (new foundation governor and I) attended assembly - the first assembly Reception children had attended. I could see Daughter down at the front, was willing her NOT to turn round. It was a very good assembly (actual subject would give away the identity of the school, so not saying anything) but Daughter couldn't remember anything about it when I picked her up.
First governors' meeting on Tuesday - my parents were supposed to be taking Daughter for the time between me going to the meeting, and Husband arriving home, but they're now otherwise occupied. So I'm going to see if our neighbour can fill the gap, otherwise Husband will have to come home early.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Sickie Day #2
Didn't take Daughter into school today, having established there is a rather vague 24-48 hour exclusion for vomiting, provided it wasn't demonstrably caused by too much birthday cake. She is fine now, although the fact that she had the worst tantrum of her entire life at her friend's house this morning leads me to think she is not quite right yet.
I escaped the bedtime routine last night to go to the new parents' meeting at the school. There was wine! I approve.
There were various bits about school routines which I've taken on board and filed away somewhere, but not too much of great significance.
My only notes concern:
- having been told not to bother with plimsolls until the spring term, as they don't go outside for PE before then, we've not been told they ARE needed, for going on the new climbing equipment, so I now need to source size 10 plimsolls in late September, which may be reasonably challenging
- we've been advised that if our children are going to have school dinners at all, it's a good idea to make sure they have them early on, as they will get a lot of help and supervision at lunchtime (hot or packed) when they first start staying, so it's a good opportunity for them to learn how school dinners work
I asked the mum we saw this morning about this, and her daughter is going to have school dinners on a Friday (chip day) and maybe one other day. Daughter is quite keen on this little girl at the moment (only one in her half of the class from nursery) so it'd be nice if they went to lunch together, and they'll only do this if their lunches 'match' (ie packed or hot). So I think we will at least do the Friday thing. Head is rather dismissive of the healthiness of packed lunches, but I don't see what's so intrinsically healthy about a school menu which potentially allows a child to have something-with-custard for pudding four days a week.
Also on the subject, it's a bit strange catering companies inventing things to put on their menus - bit trick to help your child choose what they're going to eat if you haven't a clue what the dishes are! For instance, if you Google 'larkhay biscuits' (one of the puddings) you get five hits, all of which are school menus by the same catering company. Mysterious biscuits!
Other than that, I have food for thought on whether it is appropriate to let a child play around a war memorial, and had a chat to Daughter's class teacher and both teaching assistants, who all asked after her. Apparently all the children were concerned about her too, as she's the first child to be taken out of the class poorly. They were very kind and said it was quite understandable that I'd made a wrong call (both TAs are parents too, but not the class teacher), which made me feel better. Insistence on mentioning that her lips had gone blue - not so much.
Back in tomorrow - Daughter was disappointed not to go in this afternoon, which I am actually really pleased about.
Unrelated to last night - I need to think about whether to put Daughter's name down for the work playscheme. I don't intend to use it this Christmas or Easter, or probably even next summer, but if I want the option I may need to do something about it soon-ish. Although I'm not contracted to work the long holidays, it might suit to have her go and do something for the day during the holidays anyway, to give us a little break from each other, and give her something to do. I suspect not for the foreseeable future though, as she's not really the kind of child who can just drop into a situation, make friends and have fun, she needs quite a lot of settling in. But it's worth considering and finding out more for the future.
I escaped the bedtime routine last night to go to the new parents' meeting at the school. There was wine! I approve.
There were various bits about school routines which I've taken on board and filed away somewhere, but not too much of great significance.
My only notes concern:
- having been told not to bother with plimsolls until the spring term, as they don't go outside for PE before then, we've not been told they ARE needed, for going on the new climbing equipment, so I now need to source size 10 plimsolls in late September, which may be reasonably challenging
- we've been advised that if our children are going to have school dinners at all, it's a good idea to make sure they have them early on, as they will get a lot of help and supervision at lunchtime (hot or packed) when they first start staying, so it's a good opportunity for them to learn how school dinners work
I asked the mum we saw this morning about this, and her daughter is going to have school dinners on a Friday (chip day) and maybe one other day. Daughter is quite keen on this little girl at the moment (only one in her half of the class from nursery) so it'd be nice if they went to lunch together, and they'll only do this if their lunches 'match' (ie packed or hot). So I think we will at least do the Friday thing. Head is rather dismissive of the healthiness of packed lunches, but I don't see what's so intrinsically healthy about a school menu which potentially allows a child to have something-with-custard for pudding four days a week.
Also on the subject, it's a bit strange catering companies inventing things to put on their menus - bit trick to help your child choose what they're going to eat if you haven't a clue what the dishes are! For instance, if you Google 'larkhay biscuits' (one of the puddings) you get five hits, all of which are school menus by the same catering company. Mysterious biscuits!
Other than that, I have food for thought on whether it is appropriate to let a child play around a war memorial, and had a chat to Daughter's class teacher and both teaching assistants, who all asked after her. Apparently all the children were concerned about her too, as she's the first child to be taken out of the class poorly. They were very kind and said it was quite understandable that I'd made a wrong call (both TAs are parents too, but not the class teacher), which made me feel better. Insistence on mentioning that her lips had gone blue - not so much.
Back in tomorrow - Daughter was disappointed not to go in this afternoon, which I am actually really pleased about.
Unrelated to last night - I need to think about whether to put Daughter's name down for the work playscheme. I don't intend to use it this Christmas or Easter, or probably even next summer, but if I want the option I may need to do something about it soon-ish. Although I'm not contracted to work the long holidays, it might suit to have her go and do something for the day during the holidays anyway, to give us a little break from each other, and give her something to do. I suspect not for the foreseeable future though, as she's not really the kind of child who can just drop into a situation, make friends and have fun, she needs quite a lot of settling in. But it's worth considering and finding out more for the future.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Free milk, and a free rein on packed lunches
Conversation with my neighbour re milk has been preying on my mind. She mentioned how last year she was the only parent who'd not paid for milk for her son at school, and he went two weeks without it and it was a bit shaming. This year she'd got it into her head she had lost an invoice for her daughter's milk, and got her husband to call the school. Talking to me, she decided she probably hadn't had an invoice, because they won't have milk while they're part-time.
Okay, I went away and thought 'hang on, they're in for alternating mornings and afternoons, and they have milk in the mornings, so surely they WILL have milk while they're part time?' Today I was looking in the prospectus for something else, and it says they're entitled to free milk until they're 5, forms can be collected from the school office.
Argh.
One - when trying to figure out what I need to do for the start of school, an obscure paragraph in the middle of the prospectus is not my first port of call.
Two - getting things from office = not so practical when school is more-or-less closed for six weeks.
I know schools are not literally shut for the six plus weeks of the summer holidays (my mum was a teacher) but I wonder if they forget that we don't ALL know this, and that even parents who do realise this DON'T know when there will be people in school who might be able to answer questions. And supply forms for free milk. I feel we've been rather left hanging for the summer, and think a little extra contact wouldn't go amiss.
On the plus side, the milk people have a freephone number, and even better, a website (coolmilk.com) so I didn't have to drag myself and Daughter (not dressed yet) the enormous distance (200 yards?!) to the school for a form. Apparently they may well not deliver on the first day of term anyway, so she may not miss out on much.
Another bonus was talking to the other Reception teacher, so I got info without making a blithering prat of myself to Daughter's teacher (I always make a blithering prat of myself over the phone). She was very helpful and reassuring. Best thing of all ...
... there are NO rules about what can go in packed lunches. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's nice to be treated like a responsible grown-up (even when you secretly suspect you're not one at all). Yes, she said they encourage a healthy lunch, but no absolute bans. The one thing she said was not to send too much, and to remember that at first she will come straight home after lunch!
I am much reassured. So homemade flapjack will not be classified as an unhealthy cake and be banned, and the occasional Mini Roll (mm) might just find its way in there. Excellent.
Daughter has actually had a practice packed lunch today. She had:
- one round sandwiches (Laughing Cow on Best of Both bread)
- teeny packet Mini Cheddars
- carrot sticks
- apple
- cereal bar
- banana milk
We concluded that a whole round of sandwiches was too much (although she often will eat this much if she's starving and there's not a lot else on offer); carrot sticks went mostly untouched (tough - they're still going in); not much apple was eaten (will look out for teeny apples, and send grapes or suchlike when possible); couldn't open cereal bar (pre-open it); banana milk barely touched the sides.
Daughter declared this an excellent packed lunch, and wants exactly the same every day. Laughing Cow sandwiches every day, even though she'd originally requested ham (but we didn't have any in). No pitta, no bagel, no roll or wrap, just white(ish) sliced. I told her she'd get bored. She begs to differ.
We then practised packing it all up again and not leaving the Klippit (on the Mini Cheddars; she can't open packets), ice pack, box (carrot sticks) or sandwich wrap behind.
Okay, I went away and thought 'hang on, they're in for alternating mornings and afternoons, and they have milk in the mornings, so surely they WILL have milk while they're part time?' Today I was looking in the prospectus for something else, and it says they're entitled to free milk until they're 5, forms can be collected from the school office.
Argh.
One - when trying to figure out what I need to do for the start of school, an obscure paragraph in the middle of the prospectus is not my first port of call.
Two - getting things from office = not so practical when school is more-or-less closed for six weeks.
I know schools are not literally shut for the six plus weeks of the summer holidays (my mum was a teacher) but I wonder if they forget that we don't ALL know this, and that even parents who do realise this DON'T know when there will be people in school who might be able to answer questions. And supply forms for free milk. I feel we've been rather left hanging for the summer, and think a little extra contact wouldn't go amiss.
On the plus side, the milk people have a freephone number, and even better, a website (coolmilk.com) so I didn't have to drag myself and Daughter (not dressed yet) the enormous distance (200 yards?!) to the school for a form. Apparently they may well not deliver on the first day of term anyway, so she may not miss out on much.
Another bonus was talking to the other Reception teacher, so I got info without making a blithering prat of myself to Daughter's teacher (I always make a blithering prat of myself over the phone). She was very helpful and reassuring. Best thing of all ...
... there are NO rules about what can go in packed lunches. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's nice to be treated like a responsible grown-up (even when you secretly suspect you're not one at all). Yes, she said they encourage a healthy lunch, but no absolute bans. The one thing she said was not to send too much, and to remember that at first she will come straight home after lunch!
I am much reassured. So homemade flapjack will not be classified as an unhealthy cake and be banned, and the occasional Mini Roll (mm) might just find its way in there. Excellent.
Daughter has actually had a practice packed lunch today. She had:
- one round sandwiches (Laughing Cow on Best of Both bread)
- teeny packet Mini Cheddars
- carrot sticks
- apple
- cereal bar
- banana milk
We concluded that a whole round of sandwiches was too much (although she often will eat this much if she's starving and there's not a lot else on offer); carrot sticks went mostly untouched (tough - they're still going in); not much apple was eaten (will look out for teeny apples, and send grapes or suchlike when possible); couldn't open cereal bar (pre-open it); banana milk barely touched the sides.
Daughter declared this an excellent packed lunch, and wants exactly the same every day. Laughing Cow sandwiches every day, even though she'd originally requested ham (but we didn't have any in). No pitta, no bagel, no roll or wrap, just white(ish) sliced. I told her she'd get bored. She begs to differ.
We then practised packing it all up again and not leaving the Klippit (on the Mini Cheddars; she can't open packets), ice pack, box (carrot sticks) or sandwich wrap behind.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Too late to buy
Now I'm pretty sure that when I was at school we used to moan about the shops putting their 'Back to School' signs up the moment we broke up for summer holidays - not two weeks before the schools break up, as it is now. Has it got worse at the other end of the summer holidays? I don't know, as I don't remember anything about getting school uniform, it just seemed to be there. But now it does seem rather awful.
We have most of Daughter's uniform, but I decided today I'd get her a couple of pairs of tights in case the long socks really don't cut it in colder weather. We only looked in a few shops, as I didn't want to drag her across town, but even so I'd have expected a little more success.
BhS - had a fair amount of stock, but mostly in black, navy and white. Grey only seemed to come in 128cm height, or a hip size - the latter presumably for teenage girls rather than littler ones, by which time they're all in 7 denier tights no matter what the weather. Or trousers.
Mothercare - have sidelined their school uniform (not that the selection was good anyway). Well, obviously it's far too late to be buying uniform, with only a whisker over two weeks until term starts. Plenty of grey tights - in age 2-3. Okay, I'm happy for the parents of very tiny Reception children, that they can get uniform in appropriate sizes, but it would be nice to be able to get stuff for a slightly more robust four-year-old.
John Lewis - for a start, while they have a 'back to school' section at the front of the store, it includes no tights or socks, which are with the rest of the children's clothes. Nothing in Daughter's size again.
So it looks like cold legs for winter. Or online ordering.
I'm also rather baffled by the consistency with which local shops stock summer dresses in green gingham, but NOT green knitwear. I'm beginning to think it's a good job that Daughter's school sells logo cardigans and jumpers, because I'd be struggling to find a plain bottle green cardigan elsewhere. Actually I AM struggling to find one, but I'm not too concerned as I only wanted one for spare. Fortunately the fibre content of the official school one (acrylic, acrylic, and more acrylic) should mean that it'll pretty much dry the moment it comes out of the washing machine, so if it suffers any mishaps it can probably be turned around for the next day.
Tights aside, we are now all set, with a few omissions:
- need to ask my mum nicely if she will turn one of Husband's old shirts into a painting overall (I lack the sewing wherewithall, and the elastic)
- need to practise eating packed lunch (undoing pots and packets etc)
- need to get fit of ballet shoes checked, and (probably) buy new ones - this isn't exactly school-related, but required about the same tme
I am in denial about the bottom-wiping issue, as is Daughter, judging by her reaction to my reasonable request that she give it a go herself.
We have most of Daughter's uniform, but I decided today I'd get her a couple of pairs of tights in case the long socks really don't cut it in colder weather. We only looked in a few shops, as I didn't want to drag her across town, but even so I'd have expected a little more success.
BhS - had a fair amount of stock, but mostly in black, navy and white. Grey only seemed to come in 128cm height, or a hip size - the latter presumably for teenage girls rather than littler ones, by which time they're all in 7 denier tights no matter what the weather. Or trousers.
Mothercare - have sidelined their school uniform (not that the selection was good anyway). Well, obviously it's far too late to be buying uniform, with only a whisker over two weeks until term starts. Plenty of grey tights - in age 2-3. Okay, I'm happy for the parents of very tiny Reception children, that they can get uniform in appropriate sizes, but it would be nice to be able to get stuff for a slightly more robust four-year-old.
John Lewis - for a start, while they have a 'back to school' section at the front of the store, it includes no tights or socks, which are with the rest of the children's clothes. Nothing in Daughter's size again.
So it looks like cold legs for winter. Or online ordering.
I'm also rather baffled by the consistency with which local shops stock summer dresses in green gingham, but NOT green knitwear. I'm beginning to think it's a good job that Daughter's school sells logo cardigans and jumpers, because I'd be struggling to find a plain bottle green cardigan elsewhere. Actually I AM struggling to find one, but I'm not too concerned as I only wanted one for spare. Fortunately the fibre content of the official school one (acrylic, acrylic, and more acrylic) should mean that it'll pretty much dry the moment it comes out of the washing machine, so if it suffers any mishaps it can probably be turned around for the next day.
Tights aside, we are now all set, with a few omissions:
- need to ask my mum nicely if she will turn one of Husband's old shirts into a painting overall (I lack the sewing wherewithall, and the elastic)
- need to practise eating packed lunch (undoing pots and packets etc)
- need to get fit of ballet shoes checked, and (probably) buy new ones - this isn't exactly school-related, but required about the same tme
I am in denial about the bottom-wiping issue, as is Daughter, judging by her reaction to my reasonable request that she give it a go herself.
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