I've been neglecting this, with good reason, there having been no school for over a week now (that doesn't excuse me from having written nothing since two weeks before the end of term, but whatever).
The last week of term didn't contain much of any great excitement, as Reception don't do a nativity or Christmas concert or suchlike. Apparently this is because of how tired Reception children get in their first term, and nothing to do with the propensity of over-stretched Reception mothers to sob pathetically at the spectacle of small children singing 'Away in a Manger' (or is that just me?) There was a Christmas party, which required a small plate of sausages and some money. Daughter used her money to buy a bright pink bauble (which doesn't go at all with my silver and red tree) and something else, which escapes me now. Husband had to lend another mum a pound for her child, which said mum paid me back the following day, only for me to have to borrow an extra pound from her to pay for a quiz sheet. Which we have now lost.
There was also Christmas dinner in the canteen on the Friday, about which I heard nothing, par for the course for school dinners.
Reception and Key Stage 1 finished at their normal time on the Friday, and Key Stage 2 15 minutes early - ie the same time. Okay, NOW I see why they're normally separate. The doors opened at 3pm on the dot and the bigger kids came out like a tidal wave just as the parents of the smaller ones were trying to get round the corner to where they're let out. It was madness. Daughter came out in tears, and when I finally calmed her down enough to speak I found out she was upset because she had too much to carry. I'd taken everything off her by this point! She had her book bag and water bottle as usual, and a large paper folder of festive bits of art, which was all a bit too much. Later that day (while Husband and I were out drinking on respective work dos, having delivered Daughter to her grandparents for the night) a small bag of Daughter-made festive sweeties arrived in the porch, having obviously been forgotten and subsequently hand-delivered.
Christmas has been very nice, now getting a touch of cabin fever so got a couple of play-date-ish things planned. Daughter is getting ready to celebrate a new year by having her tooth fall out. I can't believe she has a wobbly tooth - it seems like five minutes ago I was going around saying I couldn't believe she had a tooth (at four months).
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Rite of passage: Christmas fair
Despite having said to one or two people today that I consider myself immune from parental-involvement-guilt (being a governor) I did try to make some contribution to today's Christmas fair. That contribution being:
- a small box of board books for a nearly-new book stall
- 23 cinnamon-cranberry and white chocolate muffins (I made 24, but the paper plate supplied by the school was smaller than my own paper plates, so I could only fit 7 on it, which meant there I could only send in 23)
- half an hour personning the loot bag stall (which turned into 50 minutes because no one relieved us)
- £2 actually spent on the loot bag stall, 50p on face painting (butterflies were discounted, although Daughter actually had a rather lovely and ornate butterfly), £1 on some sort of draw, and whatever Husband and Daughter spent while I was on the loot bags
It was all fairly jolly, although extremely crowded (Daughter had a meltdown at not being allowed to stand in a queue which didn't exist for something we couldn't work out). I saw one face from work that I'd not seen at school before, and numerous other familiar school, work, nursery or any-combination-of faces. Bumped into the chair of the board of governors, and her husband who is tres senior at work - latter said hello to Husband, by name, as we went in our separate directions. Husband said 'is that how you get to be senior, by remembering people you have absolutely no reason to remember?' I said it certainlly seemed to help, and could almost hear him mentally recalculating his career prospects (he is truly atrocious at remembering who people are, especially out of context).
I was much taken by the human fruit machine, consisting of teachers doing funny arm/hand movements in response to a bell, and plucking fruit from a box. THE PTA mum was doing the announcements for that. She is a proper larger-than-life looking character, but nonetheless comes across as oddly approachable, at at least from a distance. I'm fairly favourable inclined towards our PTA after they supplied wine at the new-parents evening, though they do seem as scarily organised as PTA as reputed to be (my co-stallholder pointed out the woman who came and reorgaised our bags half-way through our shift as an example). Anyway, I've said a million times and will again - I'll play to my strengths, and full PTA involvement would not do that. I'll bake, I'll man a stall, I don't sell raffle tickets, I don't have ideas, I don't organise people, I will cough up. Job done.
(Disclaimer - I do have ideas, just not fund raising social ideas!)
- a small box of board books for a nearly-new book stall
- 23 cinnamon-cranberry and white chocolate muffins (I made 24, but the paper plate supplied by the school was smaller than my own paper plates, so I could only fit 7 on it, which meant there I could only send in 23)
- half an hour personning the loot bag stall (which turned into 50 minutes because no one relieved us)
- £2 actually spent on the loot bag stall, 50p on face painting (butterflies were discounted, although Daughter actually had a rather lovely and ornate butterfly), £1 on some sort of draw, and whatever Husband and Daughter spent while I was on the loot bags
It was all fairly jolly, although extremely crowded (Daughter had a meltdown at not being allowed to stand in a queue which didn't exist for something we couldn't work out). I saw one face from work that I'd not seen at school before, and numerous other familiar school, work, nursery or any-combination-of faces. Bumped into the chair of the board of governors, and her husband who is tres senior at work - latter said hello to Husband, by name, as we went in our separate directions. Husband said 'is that how you get to be senior, by remembering people you have absolutely no reason to remember?' I said it certainlly seemed to help, and could almost hear him mentally recalculating his career prospects (he is truly atrocious at remembering who people are, especially out of context).
I was much taken by the human fruit machine, consisting of teachers doing funny arm/hand movements in response to a bell, and plucking fruit from a box. THE PTA mum was doing the announcements for that. She is a proper larger-than-life looking character, but nonetheless comes across as oddly approachable, at at least from a distance. I'm fairly favourable inclined towards our PTA after they supplied wine at the new-parents evening, though they do seem as scarily organised as PTA as reputed to be (my co-stallholder pointed out the woman who came and reorgaised our bags half-way through our shift as an example). Anyway, I've said a million times and will again - I'll play to my strengths, and full PTA involvement would not do that. I'll bake, I'll man a stall, I don't sell raffle tickets, I don't have ideas, I don't organise people, I will cough up. Job done.
(Disclaimer - I do have ideas, just not fund raising social ideas!)
Friday, November 28, 2008
Settled
"Mummy?"
"Yes"
"I am used to school now."
"Oh ... that's good."
"Yes, I used to go to nursery, and now I go to school, and I am used to school now. I have been waiting to be used to school, and now I am."
So that's good news. She has been a lot more favourably inclined towards school since she discovered school does have a television after all (they seem to watch Come Outside on it).
"Yes"
"I am used to school now."
"Oh ... that's good."
"Yes, I used to go to nursery, and now I go to school, and I am used to school now. I have been waiting to be used to school, and now I am."
So that's good news. She has been a lot more favourably inclined towards school since she discovered school does have a television after all (they seem to watch Come Outside on it).
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Speechless
I'm struggling to express how stupid it is that the local authority can allow an admissions appeal, pushing class size over 30, then with the next breath come down on the school for having an oversize class. And that the suggested solution, should it not be possible to even up classes within the year, is to put a child in a different year group, but continue to teach them as the year they're supposed to be in. As in put a child who will turn 6 within the academic year (ie Year 1 age) into a class of rising 7s (Year 2 age) but continue to teach them to the Year 1 syllabus. *boggle*
Same local authority that has been paying supply teachers working in one school out of another school's budget - endemically, across the region - and is incapable of putting this right.
Well, I guess the former thing is a widespread stupidity of the system, rather than just our local authority, but still. On what planet is it better to take a child out of their peer group and put them in a completely different group, singling them out by teaching a different syllabus to them because they're younger, that to have a class of 31?
Yes, had another governors' meeting. Didn't get to talk numeracy to the relavant teacher as she was going home sick. I asked how to get in touch with her in future, and was told I would need to find her after school. Ho hum. I guess that's the way to do it. But I'm a bit of a control freak; I like to arrange things with people. Plus hanging around after school doesn't go down well with the Daughter. I had to ask her teacher after school today if a letter had made it into school last week (it was sent on the same day as dinner money which apparently *didn't*, hm) and after about 15 seconds' conversation with her was told 'we could have been home by now, mummy'. Monkey.
Anyway, Daughter is coming on leaps and bounds, and is starting to read. Yay! Very exciting. We now have word strips coming home - the first three are duplicates of the first three in the phonics book I've got, but #4 starts with 'pub'. I think it's a ringer. The second word is 'gun' - it's the non-PC word strip.
Same local authority that has been paying supply teachers working in one school out of another school's budget - endemically, across the region - and is incapable of putting this right.
Well, I guess the former thing is a widespread stupidity of the system, rather than just our local authority, but still. On what planet is it better to take a child out of their peer group and put them in a completely different group, singling them out by teaching a different syllabus to them because they're younger, that to have a class of 31?
Yes, had another governors' meeting. Didn't get to talk numeracy to the relavant teacher as she was going home sick. I asked how to get in touch with her in future, and was told I would need to find her after school. Ho hum. I guess that's the way to do it. But I'm a bit of a control freak; I like to arrange things with people. Plus hanging around after school doesn't go down well with the Daughter. I had to ask her teacher after school today if a letter had made it into school last week (it was sent on the same day as dinner money which apparently *didn't*, hm) and after about 15 seconds' conversation with her was told 'we could have been home by now, mummy'. Monkey.
Anyway, Daughter is coming on leaps and bounds, and is starting to read. Yay! Very exciting. We now have word strips coming home - the first three are duplicates of the first three in the phonics book I've got, but #4 starts with 'pub'. I think it's a ringer. The second word is 'gun' - it's the non-PC word strip.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Money, money, money ...
Title refers to the Finance & Premises Committee, meeting this evening. However, this is the school blog, not the school governor blog, so what has Daughter been up to? She had a proper afterschool playdate, where I picked up both her and her friend. They played, they had tea, friend was collected (and threw a huge paddy because she didn't want to go home - am perversely flattered by this). She had school photos taken - whole school one day, and individual the next. They're very nice. I have a soft copy of the individual one, and need to order a copy of the whole school one. She went on a field trip. To a field. They had to take wellies in, named wellies, pegged together, in a named bag. I guess they have problems with wellie loss. I put her initials on the clothes peg I used to peg the wellies together, just to be on the safe side. And this afternoon she went on a reciprocal playdate, which also went very well, except at the end when her friend had a tantrum which I'm expected to see replicated at home any time soon (according to Husband it involved some new and innovative ways of misbehaving that Daugher won't have previously been aware of).
I wasn't there because I was Financing and Premising instead. We approved spending some money on some fun things (play equipment and books) and some dull things (insulation and checking out what needs doing with the roof). I was handed a FMSiS document in which I have to record my governor competencies. Obviously having got myself through the heavy-handed promotion process at work in May, and now being partway through converting my old-style (experienced-based) professional logbook in the new style (competency based) I am delighted to be doing this. Not. I think I can consider myself competent in 'understands finance and budgeting' and 'has numeric and analysis skills' and that's about it. Most of the rest is quite school-specific. Ah well.
Oh yes, Daughter had a half term as well, obviously. Husband took the whole week off, and I decided on the Tuesday that I could do enough hours Monday to Wednesday, plus the following Monday (when my parents had Daughter overnight) to add to a little flexi credit I already had ... and not work Thursday as well as Friday. So that was pretty good, especially as I wasn't very keen on cycling to work four days in a row (and on the Tuesday he didn't even take the car out, I am so furious!) She seems quite happy to be back at school, so all is well.
I wasn't there because I was Financing and Premising instead. We approved spending some money on some fun things (play equipment and books) and some dull things (insulation and checking out what needs doing with the roof). I was handed a FMSiS document in which I have to record my governor competencies. Obviously having got myself through the heavy-handed promotion process at work in May, and now being partway through converting my old-style (experienced-based) professional logbook in the new style (competency based) I am delighted to be doing this. Not. I think I can consider myself competent in 'understands finance and budgeting' and 'has numeric and analysis skills' and that's about it. Most of the rest is quite school-specific. Ah well.
Oh yes, Daughter had a half term as well, obviously. Husband took the whole week off, and I decided on the Tuesday that I could do enough hours Monday to Wednesday, plus the following Monday (when my parents had Daughter overnight) to add to a little flexi credit I already had ... and not work Thursday as well as Friday. So that was pretty good, especially as I wasn't very keen on cycling to work four days in a row (and on the Tuesday he didn't even take the car out, I am so furious!) She seems quite happy to be back at school, so all is well.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Have I broken Amazon?
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Guv'nor(s)
First governing body meeting this evening. Husband came home early from work to allow me to go and have tea in the staff room first (the staff room into which we are only allowed by invite; a bit like vampires). Teachers and governors were all introduced to each other, so now I know the first names of just over half the teachers (would be nearly all were it not for my faulty memory) including Daughter's teacher. I promise not to tell her ... especially given that her teacher has the same name as one of her best friends.
We went through the head's report to the governing body, approved a conduct and capability policy we didn't get to read (it's pretty much a three-line-whip from the local authority, hm), amended and approved an arts policy, volunteered for committees, and discussed cycling to school.
I am on the Finance and Premises committee, and also the Appeals and Complaints committee (which has never met).
That's all. Oh, and met the other parent governor who works for my employer, so I will have to have a chat with him at work some time (get the goss, etc).
Daughter wore her winter uniform for the first time today - was going to hold out until October, but it was a bit chilly today, plus I think the novelty got her into it a bit quicker than if she'd worn her summer dress! I do expect her to come back looking a lot more dishevelled after PE though - far more of a faff to get into a polo shirt and pinafore than into a dress.
We went through the head's report to the governing body, approved a conduct and capability policy we didn't get to read (it's pretty much a three-line-whip from the local authority, hm), amended and approved an arts policy, volunteered for committees, and discussed cycling to school.
I am on the Finance and Premises committee, and also the Appeals and Complaints committee (which has never met).
That's all. Oh, and met the other parent governor who works for my employer, so I will have to have a chat with him at work some time (get the goss, etc).
Daughter wore her winter uniform for the first time today - was going to hold out until October, but it was a bit chilly today, plus I think the novelty got her into it a bit quicker than if she'd worn her summer dress! I do expect her to come back looking a lot more dishevelled after PE though - far more of a faff to get into a polo shirt and pinafore than into a dress.
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