A new school...

2009, sees Jake starting Pre-Primary School. For those of you not yet in the know, Edgemead has 2 pre-primary schools and it's determined by where you live as to which one your kids get to go to. I've managed to get Jake into the "top" school (top due to it's location, not rating - it's up behind the primary school, at the top of Edgemead), because I own a house directly across the road. It's called Garden Village and it's really nice, with great outdoor facilities for the kids. If I'd put down my current residential address on the applications, he'd be going to the old school down at the bottom, that we all went to. Incidentally, it was there that Jacques and I shared a classroom, when we were just 5 years old...

I've chosen for Jake to follow the 2-year pre-primary programme, as I'd really like to give him a chance to settle into the school and routines, before starting grade 1 in 2011 (can't even begin to believe that I'm already having to think about it!!). All the kids in his class next year are 4, turning 5, so they'll all be the babies and I think it'll do them all good to experience that before moving on to big school. Anyway, we were invited to an orientation at the school on Tuesday afternoon. It was just 45 minutes and they got to see their new classroom, have a walk around the school, checked out the grounds and animals, had a play inside, had a play outside, had a snack and drink on the mat and ended off with a story. It was great for them to meet their new teacher and fellow classmates and for us to meet the other parents. Hopefully it won't all be so intimidating on their first day next year. Jake's new teacher, Mrs du Plesis (aka: Kristy), is great. Her mother is Jake's teacher this year and I've known Kristy since she was about Jake's age. She's 6 years younger then me and it's going to be tough for me to call her by her married name. Weird. Still, she's great with the kids and I know Jake's going to have a good time in her class next year!! It was quite weird to see all the kids together and to know that these are possibly the kids who Jake'll spend the rest of his school life with. Maybe he'll even marry one... Oh, my.

I must admit, I was a little embarassed to whip out my camera, but did steal one or two photos - who cares what the other parents think of you?? Right?

This is one side of the classroom. Behine me was the dress-up (or dolly) corner. On my right, the mat...

Taking a walk around and meeting the other teachers. That's Jake's new teacher-to-be in the pink top at the back. And, please, note my brat climbing and paying absolutely no attention...

See? He even had energy to look at me and my camera and wave...

This was snack time. When Jake's group's plate of chips and biscuits was wiped clean, they headed over to the next group to help them out... There are 3 other kids from Jake's current school going to the new one. Nathan, sitting next to him, is one of his closest friends and I was at school with both his parents (Margaret & Steven Roberts). He's got a brother a year older too and the three boys have heaps of fun together. I pity the teacher...

Randomly thrown in, here are some of my recent flower shots. They're not my flowers, but they're still pretty... I caught Jake helping our dog, Duracell dig a hole in the back garden. We have a large field/nature reserve behind our house and suffer with moles in our lawn (they haven't discovered the veggie patch yet... touch wood). Duracell, hunter that he is, loves digging for moles. He gets me up in the middle of the night so he can go check what's happening in the lawn. Oh, he also likes to catch the occassional field mouse. Gross... And lastly, Jake finally picked his first baby marrow (shitini) and patty pans. It's been a tough job getting him to leave them to grow. We sliced them and cooked them up with onions, mushrooms and garlic (YUM). He loved them!! And considering he never liked marrows or peas before he'd grown them himself, maybe there is some truth in kids enjoying their own home-grown food. You know, reaping the rewards of their hard labour... Errmmmm....

XXX