First Impressions

Last week the kids started at their new school.  I interviewed them about their first week.

What is the name of your new school and teacher?
K: St James  Miss. Bosinket
D: The school's name is St. James and my teacher's name is Mr. Malcom.

What is your teacher like?
K: She is nice.
D: Mr. Malcom is very nice and helps me with almost everything.

Who are your friends?
K: Merium? Scarlet? Sephie?  (I'm not sure why she put question marks)
D: My best friends are named Burley and Lukas.

What do you like most about your new school?  Why?
K: I like the swings cuse we don't have them that much. (There are these really cool net/tire swings on the playground, but because there are only two different grades get to use them on different days so they don't get too crowded during recess.  Kaylee is always happy when it is their turn to use them.)  
D: My favorite thing is football because my friends play it as well.

What surprised you most?
K: That kids can't play with kids in a different class.  :(  (Kaylee was told by a peer that this is a rule, though I haven't followed up to see if it is true or not.  Our neighbor, who Kaylee is friend's with, is in a different class so Kaylee thinks they aren't allowed to play together at school).
D: How large the playground is.

Is there anything you don't like? What? Why? 
K: You have to change in your classroom.
D: I. Hate. Changing. In. Front. Of. EVERYBODY!!!!!  (On days the kids have gym, they change into different gym clothes.  This makes sense with the uniforms they wear daily.  They just all change in the classroom though - boys and girls all together.  This is the total norm here, so for the kids who have lived here their whole life it is really no big deal.  For my kids it was a big shock.  Luckily friend's had told me about this ahead of time though, so I was able to prep them a bit.  We got Kaylee little under shirts so she feels more comfortable and Danny is getting used to it.) 

What do you miss about Eastgate Elementary School?
K: Everything.  :(
D: Everything. :(

What are some of the differences?
K: Double Decker Buses (I'm not sure why she wrote this since we don't take buses to school . . . )
D: You have to change in front of everybody.

Is anything the same?
K: Yes, some things are the same like P.E.
D: Yes - they have a library! :)

What are you looking forward to about your new school?
K: I am looking forward to art!
D: Library and P.E.

What do you do at recess?
K: random stufff
D: I play football and flyers.

Both kids are settling in better than I expected.  A few things I am adjusting to with the new school:

• Walking the kids to and from school everyday.  The walk itself can by hard since I am encouraging the older two to walk quickly while also wearing James and pushing Abby in a stroller.  I do love seeing so many other parents out doing the same thing though, and it is fun to arrive at school and mingle with parents a bit while the kids play before the bell rings.
• Less communication between parents and teachers.  Though I met each of them on the first day, I haven't received any direct communication from either of the kids' teachers at all yet.  I just found out there is a teacher drop in hour each week though, where you can chat with the teachers after school, so that will be good to find out how Kaylee and Danny are doing.  Danny had swimming the first week of school though, and it was a stark contrast to what I would have had in the US.  I didn't even get an email telling me the class was going swimming, let alone a list of necessary equipment or a liability form for the pool or the bus to go to the pool.  Danny told me they were going and a classmate clued him into the necessary equipment (speedo, swim cap, goggles).  In the states there would have been a permission form and an evaluation of the child's swim level and an email stating all the needed equipment.  I'm somewhat enjoying the level of trust between parents and the school though - parents drop the kids off and trust that what needs to happen will happen.  It is a big adjustment though, so I'll see how I feel about it as the year progresses.
• Religious Education - The kids school is a Church of England school, though it's still a public school, not private, so religious education is part of the curriculum.  They say prayers every day and the motto of the school is Learning to Live, Living to Learn, Learning from Christ. The kids seem to be enjoying it, and it's kind of interesting to see a mash up of church and state.  We are happy to have the values and beliefs we teach at home being reinforced at school. Since all schools are applied for here, nobody would be forced to go to a church school that didn't want to - there are many schools that are totally state run with no religious influence.  But this school was close, had openings, and we liked the idea of trying something new.  
• Year round school - I think I will like this.  6 weeks on, 1 week off (half term break), 6 weeks on, 2 weeks off (term break) for 3 terms total.  The kids went to school one week, but now are on half term break.  Their school year doesn't end completely until mid July, but there are more breaks throughout the year.  We will see how it goes!

I'm looking forward to continuing to evaluate a different school system both as a parent and a teacher and will be interested in how our impressions change as time goes on.  So far, so good though!