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Kellz 
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 Topic: Im not ready for school!
Posted: 18 March 2011 at 8:44pm |
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Help! Im hyperventilating at the thought of my "baby" going to school! Its still 6 months away, and she gives me no reason to be worried, shes happy, confident, out going and cant wait for school.
But me,....Im scared of chosing the wrong school- I dont know what to judge our decison on, what Q's to ask etc.
Im mostly scared of sending my baby out into the big wide world,...Im much happier with her being in the protective little bubble that she is in at the mo.
Any tips/advice etc appreciated!!
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AandCsmum
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Posted: 18 March 2011 at 9:24pm |
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Read the Ero report on the school?
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Kel
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12
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lizzle
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Posted: 18 March 2011 at 9:32pm |
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which schools Kellz? i know a bit about a few.
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floss
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Posted: 19 March 2011 at 7:28am |
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Kellz I know how you feel, Sienna turns 5 next month altho won't go to school to the start of May because of holidays but I am freaking out, what if she forgets where the toilet is and has an accident or doesn't make any friends, there are a million stresses going through my mind.
Everytime I look at the bag we brought her i want to cry, Im not ready for my baby to be a big school girl!
We start our school visits soon so hopfully that willl ease my mind a bit!
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My beautiful big girl Sienna 15.04.06
Double the trouble double the fun Noah & Lola 10/11/07
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Kellz
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Posted: 19 March 2011 at 5:45pm |
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Glad Im not the only one Floss! Its really really worrying me,...I dont want her to hate it, to get lost, be picked on, eekk!
Liz - we are closest to Riverdale, but will be either Mangapapa or St mary's. Mangapapa has like 550 kids,...St Mary's has less than 300 and has a uniform which I like. Both are decile 5 and have similar ero reports.
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lizzle
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Posted: 20 March 2011 at 11:21am |
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If you want them to go to Campion, go St Mary's. you will struggle to get them in otherwise.
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Bizzy
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Posted: 20 March 2011 at 1:07pm |
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it is more stressful and harder on the parents i think than the kids. when gabriel first started school there were two i was considering and i went with the one that felt better after talking to them on the phone. other things you could consider is if any of her kindy/playgroup/daycare friends will be going to the same school, how far it is from you (especially with gas prices going up so much) and can she walk home when she gets older without having to cross many roads. Look and see if the schools have a website, thats a good way to see what they are up to without visiting them.
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EmDee
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Posted: 20 March 2011 at 3:42pm |
I'm not ready either! He turns 5 in June. I'm happy with the school, but just so worried about all those little things that Floss mentioned, especially being picked on 
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DS 8
DD 6
DS 4
DD 2
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Kellz
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 8:22am |
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Glad Im not the only one. Its so scary. Ive have been able to protect her up til this point in her life,and am freaked at the idea of letting her go!
Good points Deb, thanks. Both schools we are looking at are about 15mins walk, so she wont be doing that alone. Would love her to go to one thats closer, but the closest one she will be the ethnic and socio-economic minority, and so we will be driving her to one of
the other 2.
One of the 2 we are considering is catholic- we are not, but shes been accepted. This one has a uniform thats about $200 plus fees that are nearly $400 plus and extensive &expensive stationary list- so willcost about $1000 a year.It is a lots smaller- about 280 pupils, and 3 of her good friends are going there too,but starting a term before or after her.
None of her daycare freinds that have birthdays in Oct like Isla are going to either of the schools we are considering, although a lot of the kids from her daycare do go to one of them so she will know quite a few kids in other classes there.
Have looked at the websites,and have visited one of the schools and are going to the catholic one on wed morning.
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Bizzy
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 8:49am |
 Kellz wrote:
Would love her to go to one thats closer, but the closest one she will be the ethnic and socio-economic minority, and so we will be driving her to one of the other 2.
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LOL thats funny - i have an online friend who wanted to send her kid to a school like that for the diversity.
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SMoody
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 12:28pm |
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Kellz what helped us was the following:
Reading the ERO reports and then googling and see if they have a website.
Look at distance, how many pupils etc.
Then make an appointment to see the principal.
This made a big difference to us. The one that looked better on paper is not the one we ended up chosing. The principal was just really great with the other school. Very accomodating and telling us to go look at other schools and speak to as many people as you can.
Then other things if you are still worried. Drive by at pick up times or morning times and see how the teachers interact with students on the playground. You can also see how kids interact. McKayla's school I have seen bigger kids helping the smaller ones out and as soon as we went for a visit a few kids came up and talked to McKayla and make her feel included.
Perhaps even ask to meet the new entrants teacher. It is hectic with them starting but it was a lot better than I thought it would be. Today she is sick and cant go in and her heart was breaking this morning. I didnt really feel sad when she went as I could see how happy she was with the visits she had and she is very very happy where she is.
Good luck with your decision.
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jaycee
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 12:37pm |
Can I join here too? We are on the count down to school and I am worried about all the little things too. I am quite happy with our school and that Amy will know heaps of kids from Kindy but things like the toilet thing, being picked on, Amy being very (overly) sensitive about thing .... I was very like her when I was little and thinking of letting my baby go is freaking me out a bit.
Amy is ready and excited, except she is not happy that she won't be able to draw all day 
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Kellz
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 12:38pm |
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Bizzy - Lol really?! Dont get me wrong, I was equally concerned about her going to a "pakeha" school, because that is not a good reflection of the community we live in, but the closest school is decile 1, with 10 pakeha kids at the school, and the ERO report said the numeracy/literacy of the pupils was at or below average. So we prefer her to go to one of the other schools.
I a worried about the toileting too Jaycee - We have just started in the last week encouraging Isla to wipe her own bum- for so long we stopped her from doing it cos she made a mess, now we always do it but cant at school! Im worried about her having to change in and out of her togs and PE clothes and shoes on her own too.
SMoody- glad that the shcool u chose is working well for McKayla. I hope she is well again soon. We are meeting the principal on wed, and had a chat and tour with the deputy prinicpal at the other school last week.
Edited by Kellz
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jaycee
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 12:45pm |
Kellz - was thinking about the uniform issue. When I was little I wore a uniform from when I was at preschool aged 4 until I was 16. It made life much easier for my Mum as ther were no battles over what I was wearing and it meant I needed heaps less out of school clothes.
When I think of the issues with have with both of my two in the mornings I wish they were going to a school with a uniform
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Kellz
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 12:53pm |
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Yep the fact that the catholic school has uniform is something that is definalty making melean towards sending her there! Isla drives me INSANE with her clothes issues- Will ONLY wear size 4 - even tho most ofher size 3 things fit her fine, and wont wear themif the tag has been cut off. Will not wear shorts and jeans, at at the moment everything is itchy or scrtahy and she cries and tantrums at least afew times a day about what she is wearing,...arghh!
Its things like that that worry me about howshe will get on at shool- academically Im not worried at all.
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Kellz
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 12:54pm |
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Excuse my typing- baby ate the space bar so I have to add in the spaces after I type,lol!
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SMoody
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 2:25pm |
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Kellz some other things. I wont worry too much about the toilet thing. I thought there was no way for her to do it all by herself and to remember to flush and wash hands every time. And about a month or so before hand she just got the hang of it.
With the friends from playschool or kindy... Didnt really make a difference for us. She has quite a lot of kids from the playcentre and one of her best friends but she ended up playing with kids that she has never met before.
And uniforms are great. Perhaps find out if you can get a second hand one as well. Ours is just polo t-shirts (school ones) sweatshirt or polarfleece top with a red hat and then any black bottoms. So doesnt work out too expensive (I think it works out cheaper).
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Bizzy
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 2:38pm |
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i was just going to say that at the end of the day the quality of the school is what matters... but then on reflection i dont think it is. At that age especialy its all about the basics and i think that us as parents play a bigger part in the schooling anyway. we are the ones that encourage and help and inspire them and a parent can always supplement their education if they think it isnt enough. When i think of my friends whose daughter just started new entrants and the amount of homework she has to do compared to my kids at that stage i am shocked. she chose to drive her kid further to a "better" school and so far it seems to have done nothing but stres her out. There is plenty of time for kids to get lots of homeowork and be stressed about school. 5 is not the time for that.
also re the toileting and stuff. i thought my kids were never going to be ready for school let alone the independence of it all but it seemed that in that last 6 months leading up to it they changed so much.
oh and i love not having a uniform for the kids - no more fighting to get Gabriel to get changed after school or emergency washes of dirty uniforms or the shock of seeing it ripped from rough playground play - not to mention when he came home with somebody elses worse for wear shirt after swimming!
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lizzle
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Posted: 21 March 2011 at 2:40pm |
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Kellz - i was the same with Taine - he struggles to dress himself and with his autism, we do so much for him. the thought of him by himself in the playground was heartbreaking, BUT he has a fantastic teacher and the school is great. I have only heard about St. Mary's - and only good things. Not sure about riverdale, i know lots of the 'rich pakeha" mums send their kids to mangapapa. (bear in mind if our kids were in gisborne, they would either go to Manutuke or Makaraka) - that is from the locals tho.
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Kellz
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Posted: 11 September 2011 at 6:57pm |
FLoss, Jaycee and Mummydee- how are your "big kids" getting on at school? Any tips for me on helping ISla adjust or any tips in general?
Isla starts school in 6 weeks, ekk!!
She has growen up a lot since I last posted here. We have chosen a school and shes been attending their before school programme with me for 1 1/2hr once a week since the end of April- not every week lately but when we can.
I burst into tears yesterday at the thought of her being at school with all those 500+ other kids and being bullied. She is happy and excited to be going to school but Im still so scared for her, since I still carry with me the emotional scars from being bullied at school as child and dont want that for her.
Anyone else's child starting school soon and wanna join in here.
Anyone with tips for us nervous school-mums-to-be?
TIA 
Edited by Kellz
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Im not ready for school!
