The First Steps To School

Recently I gathered all my strength, popped my emotional turmoil in my handbag and headed out the door to visit the school in which my little boy will hopefully be attending next September. 

Now don’t get me wrong there are 2 schools in the village, but with both Ollie and I coming from schools that were standard format primary’s start at 4, finish at 11 we are really hoping that this will be the same for Joshua. The other school works as a primary then has a different site further across the village that is a junior school that they then move to. Having moved into the village part way through a year/term, Beth attended the junior school as it was the only place that had room for her and really disliked it

With Beth I missed so much of her younger years being a single working parent that my childminder got all those firsts, but since I work from home its been like we are in a bubble and so we have been really lucky to have had this time at home with the odd nursery day thrown in for good measure.

As Ollie was at work I took my Mum with me to the visit and after a wonderful time I was on the verge of tears. 

That was the school I could see him in, learning, growing, making friends and for him to spend his formative school years.

The tears.. well they stemmed from the fact this is the most popular school in the area and with sibling applications and then church applications coming so closely behind and Ollie and I being so out of loop in that there really are parents that attend church 12 months prior to this year to enable their Cherub to attend the school of choice (that’s a whole new blog post) I fear that even with it being our catchment he wont get a place. 

So this morning as the applications office open online in our area and I am sat typing our preferred school at number one I will be crossing my fingers and toes at my little man being able to start this journey in September somewhere we think he will thrive in not just a school that has space.

This morning will mark a turning point for us now, those first steps towards school have been made and now we wait for April to see where his school life will start. 

Good luck to everyone who is in the same boat as us and who will be choosing the school paths for their little people this year. 

What a wonderfully magical milestone … even if it makes me feel slightly sad.