Planning for back to school with Aldi Specialbuys

Yes, yes, I know. Don't start on the Back to School stuff now, the kids have only just finished - unless you are one of the unlucky ones who hasn't quite reached that days. But still - I always have my uniform bought as early as possible. I don't know if it's just me, or my children, but whenever I go to look for their sizes, the choice is either limited or non-existent so I tend to snap it up as I see it.

I also try to pay as little as possible, given that my two manage to destroy uniform at an alarming rate. I have a bagful of stuff that is no longer good enough - polo shirts get covered in all sorts from food to paint to mud to grass stains, as do dresses, skirts, trousers. Consequently, I refuse to pay top dollar for uniform that will get trashed in a few weeks. This year seems particularly bad  as I've already binned some disgusting looking polo shirts.

This year, I have a saviour in Aldi. Starting from this Thursday 25th July, they have uniform on special buy in their stores. They sent me some uniform to try on the children and really, I am pretty impressed. The polo shirts (Why did our school choose white?) look fairly sturdy, ready to accept paint and food stains come September. For Monkey, they sent a pair of trousers that just fit him so will be perfect once he's had 6 weeks of rest and growing time. And for Missy, a lovely pleated skirt that's long enough to reach her knees. To give you an idea, they both have 8-9 year sizes - my little Missy is tall and catching her brother!

Best of all, Aldi also sent us two fab winter padded jackets which will be ace when - perish the thought - it gets cold all over again. The children thought I was a bit odd making them try them on in this heat because they ARE cosy. Missy has a lovely comfy fur trimmed hood and Monkey's has a hood - you wouldn't believe how many winter coats don't have hoods on them. This is Lancashire, you know. There is rain.

What I like most, however, is the price. A two pack of polo shirts are £1.25. The skirt and the trousers are both £1.50. You can get a multibuy deal of a pack of polo shirts, a round neck sweater - which we don't use as school have crested ones - and a skirt or trousers - for £4. That's amazing. The quality looks good and I noticed that it's all easy to wash, and tumble dry and has Teflon coating to repel stains. Obviously, they do have other colours available if you need them; we just have the basics of white and grey.

Both jackets cost £9.99 which I think is excellent for the quality. There are lots of other items available too - PE kit, socks, vests, pants, plimsolls, even ballet kit! I may have to get down there myself tomorrow to finish off my uniform buying!

These uniform Specialbuys are available from tomorrow - 25th July - in Aldi stores, and will only remain available whilst stocks last so get yourself down there. And sorry if this is too early to be talking about going back to school but in a few weeks, you'll be praying for that day!

(Aldi sent me the items shown to try out for free. All opinions are my own.)

Proud mummy moment

Indulge me if you will for a few moments. I don't write enough about the children on this blog these days, even though they are still the most brilliant thing and keep me on my toes daily, if not hourly.

Since the start of the school year, Monkey has been learning to play the ukulele. His school decided a few years ago that Year 3 would learn an instrument and chose a ukulele because they are small and easier to handle. We had to buy a ukulele for him but luckily, the school managed to buy a job lot of them from another school and it cost us £5.

Photo credit: wjunior

For the first term, Monkey would randomly practice upstairs and we could hear nothing but random strumming. Just before Christmas, we went to an assembly to hear them play and they weren't bad but obviously still learning. The teacher they get in to teach them is great with them; she sings and plays along with them and they obviously all have a ball doing it.

Then, a few weeks ago, Monkey started mentioning something about playing in a concert at a festival but the details were unclear. Just before half term, school sent home some details and asked for permission for the children to take part. Unfortunately, it was on a Thursday evening when the children have everything on. The only way I could manage it was for my husband to go into work late, taking Monkey to swimming and onto the venue, leaving him there with another parent until I arrived with Missy Woo after picking her up from dancing.

On the day, it became apparent that Monkey was getting a little nervous, but I told him to try his best and smile! The children were all raring to go but had to wait sometime as there were other classes first. When their class came around, they were the last of 3 groups to come onto the stage. Having sat through two other groups which were brass bands, they were certainly different.. It was obvious they were enjoying themselves and I thought how much they had progressed since I had last heard them play. They did three songs, and the class were ably abetted by a few children from older classes doing percussion and one sang a solo. When they finished, they got rapturous applause and I remember thinking they had a chance of winning. They were quite clearly the youngest group in terms of average age out of the 3 groups competing.

The adjudicator stood up after their performance to give her comments to all 3 groups. She was brilliant with the children and had some really constructive feedback for them all. Then it was results time. Third was one of the brass bands so we were at least second. They had a chance and I remember thinking that at least they hadn't come last.

Then she announced the second place went to.... the other brass band. I could see the children from where I sat as the realisation dawned on them. They'd won! I will admit, I was nearly crying as I turned to Missy Woo and said "They've won, they've won!" as she hadn't realised. When the adjudicator finally announced the school's name as the winners, a big cheer went up. Looking at Monkey, I'm not sure he wasn't crying too but I could see he was bursting with pride. The adjudicator handed over the trophy and a certificate. Then we all had to settle down again for the final class, the secondary ensemble, which was won by a guitar group run by the same teacher who teaches the ukulele to Monkey's class!

At the end, the children were all very excited and happy, but they'd been so well-behaved considering it was getting late, past 9pm. After sharing fish and chips at home before ringing Daddy and grandparents, two tired children finally got them to bed. Monkey had a bit of a reaction the next day as he developed a tummy ache and I had to pick him up from school early.

Then came news that the local paper was coming in. Not only to photograph them, but video them playing a song. They all had to wear uniform in the morning to school (it was non-uniform day) although they were allowed to change afterwards. Monkey reported afterwards that it went OK and I knew from school assembly that it was due to be in the paper on the Saturday.

On Sunday, (late in the way only local papers can) the video finally appeared. I was sat in the café at the gym when I saw it and watched the video, once again nearly in tears. Monkey is right there at the front, although this does seem to show up how much he is looking around and not actually playing. I'm sure he wasn't like that for the concert. Now, I'd love to share the video, but since I don't publicly name the children's school on this blog or on Twitter, I can't because the school name is all over it. However, if you ask me nicely, I'll share it with you.

And then today, there they were in the paper - on page 3, and a big write up too and a big colour photo.

The school the children go to is relatively small nor is it particularly well known. That's not to say it's a bad school - far from it, the children love school, are doing well and get lots of opportunities to do things outside of school. It's the first time since the headteacher joined the school that they have actually won something. Winning something like this gives the chance for the children to see themselves in a different way as well as others to see the school in a different light. On top of that, it is a fabulous achievement on only a term and a half of lessons - so not only did the children do a fantastic job, their teacher did too!

I will stop banging on about my children's achievements now. Normal service is about to resume...

The tortoise and the hare

Parenting can be a funny thing sometimes. So much can be attributed to upbringing and genes but it's easy to forget that children are out there developing their own personalities.

Take this week, and that termly ordeal of Parents Evening at school. I'm not going to bore you with a report of their achievements but suffice to say, they're doing well, work hard and the teachers love them. What was revealing was where each teacher identifies areas for improvement. And therein lay the difference.

Monkey can be a bit slapdash. He throws himself with abandon into tasks - sometimes a little too much abandon. He's apt to rush a bit and have a little bit TOO much confidence. His teacher noted he needs to take a bit more time to think, and plan. Unsurprisingly, his weakness is his writing but he's strong on maths - writing takes time and effort, whereas maths can be done in shorter bursts.

And Missy Woo, she has the opposite problem. We know her writing and reading is good, but she's apt to be slow at times. So slow in fact, that the teacher says she produces much less than her peers. Some of this is a lack of confidence. However, she's a bit of a day dreamer, something that we notice regularly at home - just how long can one child take to change into ballet costume?! I think also she doesn't like to be put under pressure - she looks at a blank page and her brain freezes yet can be full of ideas. So her aim is going to be to work faster and smarter and feel more confident.

Husband summarised it thus - "Basically, if we could combine the two of them, we'd have the perfect pupil". And he's right. Two siblings, just over a year apart in age. Similar abilities. Two totally different approaches at opposite ends of the scale. It's that old cliché - the tortoise and the hare. But that's OK because having two hares would be exhausting, and two tortoises frustrating. They balance each other out - he livens her up, she tempers his explosive nature.

And one thing is for sure - watching them grow and develop their own personalities is utterly fascinating (and delightful), even if parenting totally opposite personalities can be very challenging.

Making school mornings easier

In the post the other day, I got a nice package from Warburtons, enough to raise a smile on a grey February day.

A nice set of breakfast products. The purpose was to raise the profile of a new handbook that they are putting together with tips for making the morning rush easier. This comes alongside new findings tha show that mothers have to juggle twice as many tasks in the morning as executives in their first hour of work and that 27 % of mothers find mornings more stressful than parents' evening or a visit from the in-laws. In my case, I'd say so but that's because neither of those things particularly bother me. Mornings in our house aren't too bad; they've definitely got better as the children have got older. And yes, I get help - husband takes the children to school about half of the time. 

They've asked me if I could share my tips for making the mornings before school easier. Here are mine. 

1. Work out a comfortable leaving time and try to stick to it. This should be at least five minutes earlier than your "Oh my God we really have to leave" time, if not ten. Knowing that time in your head will help focus your mind, and that of older children. Set an alarm to go off just ahead, so that everyone knows it's time to get ready. 

2. Get as much done the night before as possible. Really, I cannot stress this enough as it helps to keep the to do list down in the morning. Here's what we do:

• On Sunday night, I make sure that the children have uniform out and every night, they put what they are wearing, including underwear, on a chair in their room. (And I check it!) 
• After Sunday bedtime, I get out toast money for both. Actually, I do this every day (well, most) for Monkey as he buys his - I just have to send it in weekly for Missy Woo. 
• Any money that needs to go to school is by the door, partly because I don't take them every day. The children have school lunches so I make sure I send in money in bigger chunks so I don't have to do it every week. 
• If you have packed lunches, get as much ready beforehand - get all the things that don't need to be kept in the refrigerator in their lunchboxes, make their sandwiches and place in a freezer bag and put in the fridge next to anything else that has to be kept cold so you can just grab and pop into the lunchboxes in the morning. 
• Keep a list of things they need for school on different days so you can check what they need.
• Place bags and other equipment needed for school by the door. If it's cold, check that hats, gloves and scarfs are with their coats. If it's not, caps and suncream. 
• If you are going straight to work, choose your outfit the night before too. (I pack my gym bag ready for gym days!)
• Check the children's bags for notes from school before they go to bed in case they are asking for extra things to be sent in. 
• And of course, make sure homework is done in the evening.

3. Limit screen time in the morning. The TV or game console goes off the second it slows them down. We have banned it but that tends to improve things. Definitely do not let them watch and eat - try and get them to eat at a table away from a television. In reality, mine only watch telly once they are dressed and have come out of their rooms and before they have breakfast. I can live with that.

4. Keep things to hand. The children have a set of toothbrushes and toothpaste in the downstairs toilet so they don't disappear upstairs for minutes on end, plus we can keep an eye on how long they are brushing for.

5. If you are struggling to get the children to co-operate, set up a reward chart for the tasks they need to do in the morning. The more co-operative they are, the faster they earn treats.

6. Don't fight food battles in the morning. Research some years ago shows that the most important thing for performance in school is that children eat breakfast; any breakfast. If your child wants something that you perceive as unhealthy and won't eat anything else, let them have it (provided it's easy to prepare!). Hell, we've had cake for breakfast on the odd occasion before now! So shoot me.

What are your tips for easier mornings?

Edible presents for teachers

We do presents for teachers at Christmas. I don't like doing the same as everyone else so we normally make things. This year, I decided to put together a number of edible presents as I'm normally making some for family.

I started in September by doing some damson vodka. I had some damsons in my freezer which I'd been given by a friend about a year ago so decided I needed to do something. I googled around and hit on a recipe that meant I could fill large Le Parfait jars. The third one was a bit light on damsons so I added a vanilla pod. It was basically a bottle of vodka, sugar (anywhere between 170g and 350g was mentioned so I went for about 250g) and 1lb damsons in sterilised jars then hid them in my airing cupboard - where it is dark and warm. I turned the jars over daily until the sugar dissolved and tasted it after a month to check if it was sweet enough. Then I bottled it earlier in the week using kitchen roll to filter out any bits. Bottling was actually the hardest thing, because I bought swing top bottles and fitting the tops turned out to be an art form!

Then in late October, I made some baked bean tin Christmas cakes - lining the tins took us ages! They've been maturing in tins ever since and earlier this week, I marzipanned and covered 4 fully in sugar paste, marzipanned and sugar pasted the tops of another 5, and 3 were baked with an almond decoration. The children did their own design on the tops - Monkey did a Christmas tree with green sugarpaste for his teacher, Missy Woo did stars which I sprayed gold before sticking on. We wrapped a couple of extra cakes for teaching assistants too.

Next, in November, I made some sweet chilli jam. It's quite hot, so I hope it doesn't blow the teachers' heads off!

Then, yesterday, I made some mini mince pies from this recipe so I didn't have to roll out any pastry - everything just got pushed into place with finger and a tart shaper, then I pressed out the rest of the dough and cut out stars for the tops.

I know this all sounds like a lot of faff but everything has been fitted in around everything else. The longest job was lining the cake tins - next year, I have my eye on a mini sandwich tin to cook them all together although I guess I will still need to line them!


Do you make edible presents? What do you like to make?

The organiser

Yesterday was the occasion of the children's Christmas show. Well, it was the first one of three. We got tickets to go to the afternoon performances so that my husband could make it as the evening performances fall during his normal working hours.

It was a lovely show, with each of the year groups doing their own piece. Monkey had a speaking part in his class's play and did fantastically. Missy Woo was one of the narrators for Reception's class play because she is a good reader and has a lovely clear voice. She was back on straight away, singing songs with the rest of her class (Year 2), and they did a fantastic job of entertaining the audience.

However, one small thing stood out for me. At the end of their performance, they stood for a while on the stage to allow parents the chance to take photos, then the teacher led the children off the stage. Now, they'd obviously practised walking on and off the stage and who walked with who, but after about half of the children had left the stage, the procession stalled and the children just stood there looking a bit lost for a second, trying to work out who was next and not wanting to mess it up.

Then I saw Missy Woo silently take control of the situation. Glancing around, she caught the eye of who she thought was meant to be leaving next and directed them by gesticulating towards the exit with her index finger whilst keeping her hands by her side. The other children did as they were directed, apparently relieved that someone knew what to do, and left in the order she determined as their eyes collectively moved to her face to see where she was looking. She continued to look and point her fingers, rather like a policeman directing traffic or a conductor of an orchestra but with her arms glued to her sides until it was her turn to leave the stage, near enough the last to leave.

Little moments like this make me smile, and this one was vintage Missy Woo - quietly going about something in a way that might not be noticed but with a firm determination. She didn't do it bossily; she saw it could go wrong as the teacher had already gone and she wanted to help the others do it right. The other children obviously trusted her, which was quite sweet. I was most impressed with the way she thought on her feet - literally.

I always said she'd be running the classroom when she went to school. Seems like I was right. Any resemblance to me is purely coincidental, of course. *cough*

How not to write a manifesto

Who couldn't fail to be swayed by this?

Both children were on School Council last year and apparently, they are holding elections again this week. The children have decided they would quite like to do it again so they started work tonight on their election posters. This involves them coming up with ideas about what sort of thing they would like to change about school and why they would be a good person to represent their classmates. Kind of like a manifesto.

To say that this was at first difficult is an understatement. Policy meetings at the National Apolitical Party (note - does not exist) would have been more exciting. I like to ensure I don't suggest things so I tried to prompt their thinking by asking them questions about what they liked about school, what they didn't like and how it might be better.

Suddenly, Monkey's face lit up. "I know!", he said excitedly and started scribbling something down. "I think the breaks should be shorter, so we can get more learning in."

Somehow, I don't think that's going to be a vote winner or make him popular with his classmates, do you?

My little evacuee

Yes, I know, two post from me in a day, you are spoiled!

Monkey's topic at school this half term is World War II. Yesterday, the class visited the Museum of Lancashire to learn about the war and they were asked to dress up as evacuees.

I could have gone off to eBay to buy a costume but I have better uses for the tenner it would have cost me. So, in the true blitz spirit, I put together this outfit from things we had. You can't really see but he's wearing old school shorts, grey socks (which I did buy but he's going to use for school now), the waistcoat he wore to my niece's wedding, an old check shirt, and a brown coat which he usually refuses to wear with his old school shoes. I didn't manage to get a cap but I looked at pictures of evacuees on Google and it seems like it was just as common for them not to have a cap as have one. I did try to slick his hair down with hair wax but his hair was too short. School sent home the label to attach to him and I wrapped a shoebox in brown paper and tied it up with string for his gas mask box. Unfortunately, he managed to pull the string off about 5 minutes before I took this pic, leading to swearing on my part, reattaching it with sellotape which meant he couldn't wear it round his neck as planned. Children, eh?

My sum totals of purchases was some grey socks and brown paper. Make do and mend in action. My grandparents would have been proud.

Do you like it?

My little stars, back at school

It feels like forever since I last wrote a post just about the children and it's probably time I rectified that.

Both children were excited about going back to school. They don't tend to see their friends outside of school  as we are relatively far from it. Giddiness of the highest order ensued on the first day back, with Missy Woo running round squealing and flinging her arms around her friends that she hadn't seen for all of six weeks. Monkey, of course, was as cool as a cucumber about seeing his friend but he was happy to return.

Monkey's main reason for looking forward to the new term was having a brand new teacher to the school as his class teacher this year. Of course, for him, it's a big step as he has moved into Year 3 and therefore into the juniors. After his first couple of days, he started mentioning Mission Impossible and we ended up "singing" the tune on his way home. I wondered what it was and last week, I finally found out. His new teacher invited all the parents to sit in on a lesson at the start of the day. As the children were settling in for the day, the teacher suddenly set a recording off and the children went hither and thither putting things away. It's his way of getting them to tidy up! The aim is to do it quicker every time, and they are all disappointed if they don't do it quicker than last time. I am seriously considering downloading Mission Impossible for use at home! Looking around the class, I realised how much they have grown up in the 3 years they have been at school and their new teacher has them eating out of his hand. He's going to have a fantastic year.

On the curriculum for him this year is learning the ukulele. A teacher comes in once a week to teach a whole class. Monkey brought his new* (*second-hand) ukulele home for the first time last week. He'd had the sum total of one lesson. He thought he was an expert and proceeded to share his new-found talent with all of us. I sent him upstairs to play instead but that didn't do much - we just heard "strum, strum, strum, strum" all the time. He's quite keen - I keep coming downstairs and finding the ukulele out of its case on the floor of the living room - but I'm dreading all the practice. Don't laugh - apparently, ukulele lessons are becoming increasingly popular in schools, so it could be coming your way soon. Oh well, at least it is not a recorder.

Missy Woo is, however, the one who has amazed me. During the school holidays, she suddenly decided she wanted to write a poem so she set about doing so. She asked for little bits of help with spellings and words to use, but on the whole, I left her to it. As she prepared to return to school, she insisted on making sure she took her poem in to show her new teacher (who was, of course, Monkey's teacher last year).

After her first day back, she told me that her teacher had said she could read out her poem at the next celebration assembly they have on Friday afternoons, and asked if I was going. Thankfully, I was as the first one was after their first full week and as a parent with children in both infant and juniors, I can basically go whenever I want. She told me she would have to write it out neatly as the teacher had said.

Come the assembly, both children took their certificates in from the summer reading challenge they had been doing at the library over the holidays and after they showed them, the headteacher held her back and started explaining about the poem that Missy Woo wrote.

What I didn't know was that Missy Woo had learnt her poem off by heart to recite to the whole school. It was her own idea and I have no idea when she did it, but she did. Not only that, my little 6 year old girl (OK, not so little - she looks at least a year older, if not two) stood there and recited in a clear and confident voice, the whole of her poem and  received a huge round of applause from all the children, staff and present.

I don't think I've ever been quite so blown away by her. I had no idea she'd learnt it off by heart - of course, she wrote it so should know what's in it but all the same, she was fantastic. And for that, she was unsurprisingly awarded the first Star of the Week trophy of the new school year. I was so proud of her.

And just so Monkey didn't feel left out, his class was class of the week too, so we had double the reason to celebrate. As we were going away straight after school, we ended up lugging the trophy to Coventry with us - and Missy Woo took it upon herself to show the trophy to just about anyone who was passing, let alone ask what it was for.

Summer holidays already feel like a month ago. Routines have been re-established, friendships rekindled, reading books grudgingly read and avoided where possible. We are definitely back at school, with lots of exciting things to look forward to.

20 things I learned this week

1. If you want to avoid a long wait when shopping for school shoes, the best thing to do is to be the first ones through the door at opening time.

2. It may, however, still take half an hour to get two children measured and fitted.

3. It is possible for feet to measure a totally different width fitting than the one they eventually fit. Which explains 2.

4. Missy Woo has inherited my high instep. See 3.

5. Monkey doesn't care what his school shoes look like, so long as they have an association with a character or dinosaur.

6. Missy Woo cares very much what her shoes look like. Too much.

7. Missy Woo has no colour co-ordination. She is dazzled by it - the more colour, the better.

8. In the future, Missy Woo is going to cost me a lot of money in clothes.

9. Monkey claims not to be bothered, but secretly he likes to dress up smart.

10. Monkey looks swamped in jackets, even if they fit him.

11. On the other hand, waistcoats suit him.

12. Monkey has a longer body but shorter legs.

13. Monkey therefore doesn't fit suit sets. He fits trousers in one size, and shirts, jackets or waistcoats in another.

14. Shopping for a wedding outfit for a 7 year old boy is nigh on impossible because they don't get that they need to try things on to see if they fit.

15. Shopping for a wedding outfit for a 7 year old boy straight after school shoe shopping is a bad, bad idea.

16. The children love The Great British Bake Off so much that they get excited when they see the books in shops. So much so that they were moved to shout, "Mary Berry! The queen of baking!"

17. I have forgotten how much I love reading. Henning Mankell books especially.

18. When I read Wallander books now, the people I picture in my head are the ones who played the characters in the Swedish series.

19. Monkey really is ruled by his stomach and comes home from playing with friends when he is hungry by and large.

20. What excites and intrigues the children most when going away on a trip is not where we are going but the sticker books they get to play with on the way.

7 year olds can be strange things sometimes

I love the insights you get from children sometimes.  Some of them can reveal an aspect to their personalities that you hadn't considered before.

I am sure I've mentioned in the past that Monkey loves school and learning and always tries his best, which is all you can really ask of a 7 year old. His best is pretty good too and he makes us very proud. I have always thought of him as a child who is confident in most of his abilities, but now I'm not so sure.

The other day, he told us a little story. He said that in the playground, one of the girls in his class said to him,"You're the smartest one in our class."

"That's nice," I said. "What did you say? Did you say thank you?"

He looked at me, slightly mystified. "No," he said, "I said you must be joking."

I really need to teach him how to accept compliments more gracefully.

A trio of cheesy grins

Do you remember a few weeks ago, I wrote about going in to school to have school dinner with the children for Mother's Day? Well, I forgot to share this picture, taken on my phone at the lunch by another mum, my friend Tracy and given a bit of a fancy edit by me.

I dunno where the children get those cheesy grins from! Do you think they were excited?

This is one of the last photographs I have of Missy Woo with her front baby teeth, and my hair is shorter now. This photo is already a memory to keep and to treasure, remembering times past.

School holidays - a break for who again?

Planning how to drive me mad next

Much as it's nice not to have to dash around at 8.30am and 3.20pm every weekday during the school holidays,  we're reaching that point where we've been in each other's company a little too much. Little niggles between the children that started as storms in a teacup are beginning to escalate into major fallouts, constant requests for squash/chocolate/ice-cream/more chocolate/toys, and a desire to make every day special (because of course, it is a holiday) and therefore resisting the usual routine of bedtimes, meals and everyday life. They all conspire to ensure we begin to grate on each other a bit. I know it's a break for the children, but not so much for me.

Thankfully, the weather hasn't been as bad as expected this week, if you ignore Monday when it rained all day and I spent most of the day cleaning the house with, or more accurately, in spite of their help. This means the children can play out with their friends on our road or the next road. Although I seem to spend some days shouting "Door!" every ten minutes as they fling it open wide to return for drinks/meals/toilet visits or deposit sporting equipment as they change games or playmates, I quite enjoy the breaks; they're like little oases of peace, punctuated by a child bursting through the door.

I realised yesterday that the children have begun to figure this out for themselves that I might actually enjoy this. The children were trying to decide what to do when Monkey turned to me and said, "We're going outside, Mummy. We'll leave you in peace," and went out of the door, taking Missy Woo with him.

Is it wrong I went straight to make a coffee?

Testing and tuition - is it right for small children?

Holiday homework. It seems wrong but that's what we've got for Monkey - 3 books to read, some maths and some words. Oh yes, of course, it's SATs next term. Until now, the teacher has not been very pushy about their SATs but a note in his bag says she doesn't want them to be rusty when they return. I know that SATs are marked by the school these days but personally I'm uncomfortable with testing children as young as 6 - well, at least to make a big deal of it anyway. When you hear of parents issuing "incentives" to children of that age to "do well" in them, I feel that something is wrong.

Last week, I was offered some tuition for the children in return for a review. They hadn't got the ages of my children wrong, their tuition is aimed at 5 - 14 year olds; basically, from the moment they enter school through until high school. This was mentioned in association with issues of children worrying about tests or exams or to improve their confidence.

Firstly, I find it extremely sad that young children could be worried about tests or exams. The pressure to do well in them can only be external at that age - what child understands what a standard is? KS1 SATs results are not published nor are they externally marked  (KS1 is Key Stage 1, which ends by the end of the school year in which they turn 7, just in case you didn't know). Doing well in SATs is great, but nor is doing badly a huge problem. School have underplayed the tests so far but I understand that they have an interest in the children doing well, because that is how they are judged by others, which can affect how many children come to the school and ultimately, how much money they get. I feel lucky that I believe that at our school, they just want the children to achieve what they are capable of, rather than pushing them to over-achieve.

As for confidence, you may remember I blogged about this problem with Missy Woo six months ago although it seems like longer. We overcame it by speaking with the teacher who came up with some new approaches which worked a treat, but also by giving her a boost at home. Since then, she's just got better as she's realised she can read and it's been beautiful to observe. I'm sure many children need a confidence boost from time to time and I suspect most problems can be solved by giving the children help, love and support, with parents working with the teachers. Does extra tuition need to be part of the solution? I doubt it.

You may say that I'm lucky in that I don't need tuition for my children. I'm not worried about SATs. Perversely, Monkey seems to enjoy tests and treats them as a challenge, which is great. He knows we expect him to try his best, rather than set a standard to live up to that he doesn't understand. All he cares about is what reading level he is on compared to his friends.

Would I consider tuition at his age if he wasn't doing well? No. To me, that suggests that parents aren't happy with their child's progress and don't feel that school can resolve them, which is equally sad. I'd like to think that I'd be working with school in that position and discussing it with the teachers. If you can't, that's a pretty fundamental problem that I don't believe extra tuition alone can solve. I don't blame the people offering tuition; they are only offering a service because there is a demand.

Of course, as well as SATs this year for year 2, Missy Woo in year 1 will be subjected to a  new phonics test in June. She will still be 5 when she is tested and as one of the first pupils to take this test, no-one really knows what to expect, although it is believed to be quite rigorous. I hope she will take this in her stride as she is much less confident about tests than her brother but her overall reading is already ahead of what is expected of her age. No-one yet knows what happens if children don't reach the expected standard, something two thirds of pupils failed to do in pilot tests.

As I said in my polite refusal of the review of tuition, I don't believe in pushing my children hard, so the maths sheets will get done as a very low key activity as and when it suits; this is a holiday after all. For all the testing that children are facing next term, I think it's far more important for them to have a love of learning and reading at their age than them to achieve a standard set by someone else.

Isn't that what school is about?

What do you think? Is your child facing a test next term in year 1 or year 2? How has school approached these tests and what preparations are you aware of? Is your child worried about these tests and if so, why or how do they feel worried? Would you consider, or have you considered, tuition for a child aged 5 to 7? If so, why? Do please have your say below. 


Photo credit beni_bb

Why I will no longer apologise for being proud of my children

Photo credit - msegura

Last week was Parents Evening, and I'm pleased to report it was all good for both children. Very good, in fact. I mentioned it on Twitter but I held back from blogging about it, until now.

I put it on my Facebook status and then I saw someone tweeting about how they hate all the smug updates about how everyone's little darlings are doing so well at such times, and that not all the children can't ALL be nice and polite. It niggled. First, because it intimated that teachers issue platitudes they don't really believe, and secondly, it suggested that it was wrong to be proud of our children.

The main reason I put it on Facebook is that it is the main way we keep up to date with family. We have family spread from Cumbria to Devon, plus another that spends half his time abroad. We have friends around the world who know my kids and like to hear how they are getting on. I'm sorry if that's wrong but if I didn't put it on my status, I'd have to type it out several times over.

I know the teachers were genuine in their praise when we went. It rather astonishes me that Monkey's teacher cannot say a bad word about him. She gave him As for effort rather than A*s because she wants him to keep trying and told us "Really, he's excellent (but don't tell him I said that!)". I knew he had done well in his reading test because she told me a month ago that he had come top of the class in a very hard reading test, having only got one question wrong. Missy Woo's teacher was honest with us too - and said her only fault was she could get a little too chatty if she sat next to the wrong person, but that she was always mortified if teacher had to have a word with her.The children they spoke of were recognisable as my children, albeit the immaculately behaved version they reserve for school hours.

These teachers weren't lying. I would know if they were and I'm certainly not lying either.Yes, they are good kids but they are not angels; they are just normal kids who have their moments, and thankfully, the good outweighs the bad. Both children are already at, or beyond, where they are expected to be by the end of the school year. Their teachers expect they will move up further during the next term - Monkey's teacher expects his reading to be that expected of a child finishing Year 4. He's in Year 2. Missy Woo is expected to be at the standard of a child in Year 2, a full year ahead of herself. Those facts blew me away. In fact, it still does.

But why is it wrong to be proud of this? They have both worked hard and tried their best in class and know we expect that of them. We do not push them, we encourage them - we read with them and do spellings as requested by school but the rest of the time anything we do with them is spontaneous. Why can't I be proud that they both try their best and are progressing so well? That they both love to read, to write and to add up? That they both love learning?

I accept there is a fine line between pride and boastfulness. When the children were babies, I avoided the Baby Olympics. I was open-mouthed when some parents were displeased that a friend's baby was ahead of theirs. One even told me she was worried her daughter wasn't walking - she wasn't even a year old. And yes, I talk about my kids, but never in a my-child-is-better-than-yours kind of way - they're just different, with their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses.

My children are my life. Their care and upbringing takes up the most time in my daily routine and it's been that way for the last 7 years. I think we've done a good job so far. If I can't be proud of that, what can I be proud of? I've had enough -  I am reserving the right to speak up when there is good news to report. From now on, I'm going to be a proud mummy and be unapologetic about tt. I won't bang on about my children endlessly but I will celebrate their achievements. I want my children to know that I am proud of them (which they do, I hope) but I want them to know it's OK to be proud in a gracious way, especially when it is something they have worked hard for.

I want other parents to join me, to demonstrate that pride in your children is a good thing. I've even made a badge to display on your blog, to show that you are proud and don't feel the need to apologise for that. Feel free to grab the code to do so, to put on a post or a sidebar. I'd love to know what you think about it, either in the comments or in your own post - what makes you proud about your kids? How have they made you proud recently? Is parental pride a good thing and when is it ever bad? If enough people write in response to this, I'll open a linky but I won't if there isn't a demand for it.

<a href="http://thefivefsblog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKN_fUBGGa9OBhFhgky24uevpylg2gjtuiXI8vfdZM0oDYGk8CMsry_lBjjQKnGZ5lD4-QoCBBi3n5Za9ZkdRKqCjOnrhz6DI1QNX23-CYNV3Vd_H6bltbvrhiZ8aJjp9_CC9a-5IPxma4/s1600/ppcblogbadge2.jpg" border="0" alt="The Five Fs" /></a>

Let's show everyone we are proud of our kids - we've spent ages growing and nurturing them, we have every right to be. In doing this, I'm hoping our kids learn pride in themselves - how to experience it and handle it, without losing friends over it. Mostly, I just want them to know people ARE proud of them because, God knows, children and young people take enough stick these days, and not a lot of it is justified.

Going back to school (dinners)

Photo credit - edgardg

Today, I'm going to do something I have not done in a very long time. I'm going to have a school dinner.

Give a child a breakfast - and win a year's supply of cereal for your school's breakfast club!

You may remember that earlier in the year, I blogged about children having breakfast. It was prompted by a bloggers' event arranged by Kellogg's and they shared some shocking statistics about how many children miss breakfast.

Back in September - which seems like ages ago now - they invited a handful of bloggers to a spa at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester. It wasn't all glamour - they shared some information with us having updated their research. 1.7 million children do not have breakfast and 325,000 of those children eat nothing until lunchtime. And of the ones that miss breakfast but eat something beforehand, a sizeable chunk buy chocolate, crisps, even burgers on the way to school. Not great. We all know the benefits of breakfast, both in improved concentration and performance at school, as well as helping to prevent obesity.

Something I am proud of

Who or what makes me proud? I bet you’re not surprised to see my children below. It’s a bit of a gimme really, but I must tell you why, right at this moment, my children are making me proud.

The timing of the prompt for The Gallery couldn’t have been more apt. Two weeks ago, the children came home from school with a blank poster template. It was school council election time and they were seeking candidates. The children had to draw a picture of themselves or place a photograph in the middle and then write why they would be a good school councillor or share some of their ideas for the school council.

Confidence trick - update

I can't believe it was only two weeks ago that I blogged about my concerns about Missy Woo and her occasional lack of confidence with her reading. Typically, and pretty much as often happens, things got better by themselves without much intervention by itself. I had some great comments on here and on Twitter about her. Eventually, I decided to speak to her teacher about it after school one day and she told me she'd got a special book out for her to try that week in addition to her usual book as she felt she needed stretching. Missy Woo loved this as she told me she knew she was the only one who got this treat. We read some of both books together at home and she was way more confident.

Since then, she's got better and better. She loves to write, even if her spelling is not 100% - we've started the Christmas lists, which are a hoot to read, and over the half term, she's written notes to her friends and a list of all her classmates' names. They weren't all correct but we sat down together and I wrote some of them out the right way for her, rather than tell her she was wrong.

Confidence trick

It's fascinating watching your children growing up and watching their personalities develop. The differences between the two are amazing. Where Monkey is volatile and will blow up over the slightest thing sometimes, Missy Woo is calm and relatively pragmatic.

There is one area where I spot a difference in their personalities and it slightly disturbs me. It manifests itself largely when they practice their reading at home with us, and I wonder if it is noticeable at school.