The school year draws to a close

We had a lovely evening at Charli’s school tonight. It was the farewell to the seniors going onto Intermediate school. We feel very fortunate to have such an incredible school for our children to attend and the atmosphere tonight was so touching. The evening of singing, speeches and dashes of humour was finished off with the Year 6 students christening the new flying fox that has been built in the school field! What a send off!

Charli has enjoyed a fabulous time in Year 2 and is now really settled into school life. She’s had a great teacher this year and we know she’ll be in good hands next year as she enters Year 3. This week she’s been visiting her new classroom and getting to know her new teacher, in readiness for February and Term 1 of the new year.

Her school report was glowing and she’s reading well above her actual age level, as well as performing above level in aspects of writing, mathematics, visual arts and her interest in topics and research skills.

Some comments in her report that make us so proud and I have to record here for posterity and Charli’s dear Grandparents:

‘Charli is a talented writer. Her published work is always beautifully illustrated and neatly written. She uses capital letters and full stops consistently. She is a very good speller.’

‘Charli has an enthusiastic approach to reading and can captivate her audience when she reads aloud.’

‘She has excellent knowledge of numbers to 100 and can recognise numbers to 1000. She can measure accurately and enjoyed practical management tasks. She has enjoyed challenging her peers in basic facts games.’

‘She is a hard worker and conscientious in all she does. She has a bubbly, friendly personality and interacts well with her peers.’

‘She enjoys art, making and creating. Her artwork is original. She uses colour effectively and has individual flair. She participates actively in physical activities, dance, drama and music. She participated enthusiastically in the school production, performing the rat dance and singing beautifully.’

Charli in the centre:

‘I enjoy listening to Charli’s news each week. She is always well prepared. She has shown an interest in science discovery topics and likes to share any resources or new knowledge she finds.’

‘Charli has had a very successful year. She can be very proud of all her achievements.’

Gooooo Charli! We are so happy and relieved. This time last year was a different story, as she was struggling to find her place in school and didn’t feel challenged. I know that Sophie will be the same initially, as she’s a bright lass too. We’re so happy that Charli was given the challenges she so desired this year – without being pushed so far that she felt overwhelmed. She’s been very fortunate to have had a teacher with such skill to balance challenging her students without exasperating them. Not that her first teacher wasn’t wonderful too. She was indeed incredible and I am in such admiration of new entrant teachers. Charli needed that time to adjust to school life and when she looks back on it now she says, ‘In my first class I played a lot more games and it was fun, but just too easy.’ And she really did love her first teacher.

It’s going to be an interesting six to seven week’s of school hols. Charli has become so used to school that she’s forgotten what it’s like not to be there. She will no doubt miss it and be very ready to return come February. However, she is very much looking forward to having time to explore her old favourite places and has asked that we take it in turns to decide what we’re going to do each day.

I’m looking forward to the hols and having both my girls home together, though I’ll no doubt feel a little exhausted too (with only 9 week’s to go till my due date!). Thank goodness Dan is taking off the time between Christmas and New Year and my folks arrive mid-January!