The Mock Turtle

Topcat wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:40 pm

You're a right History Dad so I don't believe you're sincere.

We had our information evening last night, and it was a bit strange being back.

They have kept the main old building but extended it with a rear and side extension and I felt slightly lost in it when it came to classes and stairs seemed in different places Much of the character has been kept in the old area with the wooden panelling, parquet flooring and green tiles remaining plus the wind coming through the single glazed windows and big chunky radiators and the main stage still having the crest above it and organ.

Naturally, the teachers all seemed nice, but we didn’t get shown round all the subjects. I think S feels more comfortable about going up - they have a 2 day transition in June.

That sounds good Glint. I had the same experience and Mini went to the schools I attended and was taught by some of the same teachers.

I always found it slightly weird at parents' nights and having to face some teachers I despised when I went there. There's a buddy system up here to help the 1st years settle in, they're normally placed in a reception class with a friend, and 2/3rd years are selected to be mentors.

Thankfully, I don’t think there are any teachers still there when I attended. I think for the first couple of weeks, each class is escorted by a 6th year to and from their classes :chaingang: I also believe there will be a buddy system based on what house they’re in.

L was supposed to have his agricultural college interview this afternoon but the campus is shut due to the snow. They have mooted remote interviews but I hope they just reschedule in person.

Betty has come home in tears. She’s been having issues with a girl in school for over a year. It’s been name calling and threats of violence and on one instance, a gang of her friends chased Betty one evening through the streets.

So far, I’ve contacted the school twice. Betty was moved into a new form class and they were kept separated in class but it happened today in PE

I’ve called the school and left a message saying I want a call back tomorrow about it. I’ve emphasised that this is the third time I’m calling about multiple incidents. Meanwhile, B has had a full blown panic attack and doesn’t want to to back to school tomorrow.

Oh god poor thing! That’s absolutely awful. Of course she doesn’t want to go back, she must be feeling terrible. I hope the school get on top of it.

I still remember the vile girl at my school who targeted me, thankfully only for a relatively short time but I can vividly remember the feelings of panic when it happened. I’d still like to track her down and punch her lights out, actually.

We have an open house visit for high school this week. I have never actually had a walk round the building before, just the art department. All the kids visiting will be in R's year, as it's just for the new starts. So that will be interesting.

I am expecting to basically get lost as the building is huge, but they have lots of really good things to check out. Mostly, I'm interested to see what the lunch facilities are, as I have no idea if they have a cafeteria or just a lunch room with the odd vending machine scattered throughout. (There are no lunches served at elementary schools.) Not sure if there's anything else I should be scoping out specifically. There will presumably be teachers on hand to talk to.

R is getting hugely excited. She is so ready to move up.

We did that this week, LM, with J. It was really good. He waa terrified beforehand but was super excited when we left. I’ve now got 46 pages of forms to fill in and return.

Oh that's awesome! Less good that you have all those forms..

Ours was very informal. They do indeed have a huge cafeteria that serves food (Taco Tuesdays are the best, apparently.) You get quite a workout with all the stairs! I think the only thing that phased R was the size of the place and therefore the potential to get lost. But she already got head-hunted by the drama/vocal teacher who thrust forms at her. (Apparently he had already been given a description of what she looked like and had been searching for her! A wee bit premature since she can't join anything until September. So between that and bumping into a lot of friends it's already feeling like home.

Sounds like it will be an excellent fit for her!

Absolutely! Although I also had my first proper pangs of my-baby-is-all-grown-up.

So I actually had a look at the form he gave her when I was clearing out the car, and it's only a field trip form to perform at Carnegie Hall next year! I may want to get on his good side, in case they need parent volunteers. NYC is my favourite place.

I'm so glad it went well! I quite liked the open days at secondary schools.

Cube has just come home with a consent form for a trip to Iceland. It's way out of my budget and I feel fucking shit because they want the deposit in 2 weeks at the same time as wanting £200 for 'activity days' at the end of term. It's the first time I've ever had to say no to a school trip like this. I know it would be kinda once in a life time but it's not just the cost of the trip, he'd need warmer clothing and a bloody passport. I could cry.

Could his dad help out, Kleio? I reckon you could probably borrow warmer clothing? (If he fits anything George has you would be very welcome to borrow it!)

What on earth are the activity days that cost £200?!!

I've asked his Dad to help out, he hasn't replied and previous attempts have either gone ignored or I get "which dO yOU tHInk I PaY MaiNTenAnCE FOr."

The last week of the term they do 3 days worth of activities. There's a wide range of things they can choose from but they're all about £25-40 each per day. I think Cube is doing Dragonboating, Go-karting and possibly Go Ape. I can't remember what Betty has chosen but it works out to be about £210 without spending money/lunch.

We have that too, Kleio, it’s so prohibitive. Every year there is celebration week where it’s basically a week long school trip. So with this and his ski trip and other trips, we’ve spent at least £1500 just on extra curricular stuff for the past 6 months. It’s insane because a lot of it is ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunities so there is so much pressure.

I know our school offers opportunities to kids from certain income families, would that be an option?

3 different costed days of activities? Don't they think about this? Though thinking about I think SB2s school offered a choice but they were only supposed to go on one.
Sb1 never got to go on those trip of a lifetime holidays, but I managed to get him to Berlin for 3 days. He wasn't the only kid not going. Loads didn't go and none of them seemed to care, although why do those super expensive trips on the first place? It's wrong I think.

Sb2 went skiing because his super competitive (and debt ridden) dad paid for it.

I’ve already asked Lucy so I’m hoping they’ll come back with a positive response.

Kleio wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 4:39 pm The last week of the term they do 3 days worth of activities. There's a wide range of things they can choose from but they're all about £25-40 each per day. I think Cube is doing Dragonboating, Go-karting and possibly Go Ape. I can't remember what Betty has chosen but it works out to be about £210 without spending money/lunch.

That's a bit much. We wouldn't do that at our school. Also, I don't run those holidays because I think it's wrong really.