Mid-year school reports & mini-creations

It’s been a busy week in the household with the mid-year reports arriving home and parent-teacher interviews to coordinate for all three girls. Thankfully the reports have left us with no concerns and we’re really delighted at how our older two are doing; considering they had a good year or so gallivanting in the USA, with no formal schooling taking place!

Our middle aged daughter, who was home-educated till age 9, is doing amazingly well. She is absolutely thriving in school now and achieving above expected level in many areas, even been chosen to represent her school in a ‘Tournament of the Minds‘ competition (which involves getting to school at 7.30am every Wednesday morning!)…. YAH and PHEW!

Our youngest daughter only started school this year and our main priority, as parents, was seeing her settled and happy. She’s now at the stage where her reading and writing is starting to fall into place, but since she’s young in her year (many of the others have turned, or are turning six, she has some catching up to do!). She’ll move from the preps to the Year 1 class half way though term 3 – and then be with that class for term 4 and rolling into the next academic year in 2016, when she’ll then be a Year 2.

She has been enjoying the Matariki -Maori New Year – art, at school. She came home with this on Monday – representing the Mata Ariki ‘Eyes of God’, a tiny constellation of stars.

Meanwhile, our eldest daughter, in Year 8, is looking forward to taking on a new language in Year 9. She had the choice of Japanese or Chinese (she’s already doing French) and she’s very enthusiastically chosen Japanese (already downloaded an app and has started learning!). She’s doing wonderfully well in art and design, her favourite subjects at the moment; and that has been very evident on the home front (as she is always drawing, sewing or doing some sort of interior design / organising!).

She has made a lovely cover for her sewing machine and organised her ‘sewing table’ beautifully!

On the home-front we have a couple of want to be chefs in the house! Sophie (9) made the most scrumptious OREO truffle balls, Alice (5) helped to make a delicious apple crumble, and both of them helped to make dinner the other evenings too. Win! Win!

Our Sophie wrote a fabulous story about her cross country endeavours with school.

First I did my school cross country, I had a lot of nerves to over come, but I did my best ignored the stitch and sprinted as fast as the wind at last minute, getting me into 7th place. Saving me a spot as a reserve. During the run I felt like I was flying except for the moment I ran through the stream, that kind of led me back to earth. I was defying the wind, running though streams, up muddy hills and through car parks. When the lady wrote the number seven on my hand I was ecstatic.

The day of western zones came. It was book character day (we dressed up like character from a book). Ms Kitney called me to her desk, was I in trouble no, she then informed me Monet was sick oh no for Monet, but then I realised I was the reserve I get changed and hop on the shuttle.

When we get there my nerves get slightly better, we warm up and line up to go. The gun goes off I fall over ohh no my friend Isobel comes back, she checks that I’m ok and then we catch up. I immediately get a stitch my only choice is to ignore it, I sprint across the river over the hill down the stairs to the final 400 (metres). I go faster than I’ve ever run in my life, the wind pushing, my hair blowing and me over taking 10 people, I came 36th ahead of 3 people who bet me in my school cross country, and around 20 from other schools, I didn’t get to the inter zones but to me I just won the world cup!

By Sophie, age 9.

And, talking of sport, there’s been hockey antics in the garage! We are currently in the dark depths of winter (just had the shortest day, so it can only improve from now!) and our youngest has been learning hockey at school (never too young to start, right?!). Anyway, she’s been asking for her own hockey stick for a few weeks, and after the positive school reports we decided to get both Miss 5 and 9 a stick each, as a reward (Miss 11, turning 12 this coming weekend, is all about fabric and interior design stuff – so that will be her reward!).

As soon as the hockey sticks were home the two younger girls couldn’t wait to practice their skills (once they’d persuaded their Daddy to drive the car out of the garage).

So, a busy week, and we are all very much looking forward to the upcoming school holiday! We are excited to be heading to Singapore, for a fortnight’s holiday, where we shall be meeting up with Chinese Grandad & Grandma (flying from the UK to meet us)!

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