1st day for Year 7s

[Turtlegirl]

My daughter has also spent all her dinner money, so she's taken sandwiches today. She claims not to have spent all that much. Can they get a receipt at a school canteen? She is so vague about what she's had (possibly cos it's all puddings and sweet drinks).

[Paramjeet]

At one school I know parents get to see on line exactly what their children have bought in the shop and or canteen. This don't half curtail their sweets and fizzy drink ponchan..

[um]

Yes, I do get to see online what my children have eaten - via parentpay.
I have seen the whole sorry list of items eaten by ds2 (who has unsurprisingly been unable to eat dinner recently).
I think all the Grammar schools have this?

The fact that I can see what was purchased afterward does not prevent my children from making huge numbers of dessert transactions on one day

What galls me more than anything else is the price of drinks (I think it is £1.10 for a tiny bottle of flavoured water) and the Capri Suns and Appletizers that dc2 bought, made quite a contribution to the final bill.

I do insist that my ds' take their own water bottle...but they do seem to forget it occasionally

Ds2 had a bit of an unfortunate event with the bus today - ds1 got on and then the driver closed the doors on ds2, saying it was full - and drove off! ds1 gallantly waited for him to arrive on the next bus, at the bus stop near our house.

[JaneEyre]

Did anybody have any problem with the traffic today

I even didn’t manage to pick up my DS from school this afternoon. To go from Chester road in Sutton Coldfield till the merging to the Aston expressway (which was closed) took me half an hour... and everything was blocked to nearly a standstill.
I felt there was no point to try to go to the other side of town (that would have taken more than an hour) and then to be still stuck in traffic jams on the way back, especially with the rush hour ...
Thanks God I have a 'Kings Heathan' friend who has been able to pick up DS from his grammar school and drive him to a train station.... That taught me to give my DS some pocket money to pay his fare if such an event happens again. But frankly, I am not looking forward to such a bad experience again!! Anyway, my darling arrived safe and sound – after some delay with the trains – around 5:30 at home... And I am wondering what we will do when there will be tonnes of homework! Oh joy!! .. starting already to wish for no snow this year!!!

[JaneEyre]

ds1 gallantly waited for him to arrive on the next bus, at the bus stop near our house.

So sweet of him!

[Professor Yaffle]

Well the first week is over. It's really lovely to hear that everyone's DCs are settling in well.

My DS is also loving the school lunches but having spent £10 on lunches during two induction days I have been sending him off each morning with a packed lunch only to find it untouched yesterday as he had decided to use his 'emergency' money to buy a burger instead

[Professor Yaffle]

Well it's now 5 weeks into the new term
Just wondering how everyone's DCs are getting on now the novelty is wearing off!

[Turtlegirl]

So far we have:
-Lost one school jumper (supposedly on the bus but not found by National Express)
-Left one planner & one pencilcase in a classroom over the weekend
-Had to call one friend to find out the homework, having left the planner behind
-Missed 2 clarinet lessons, one because we didn't have a clarinet and the second because the lesson is on a Monday and we forgot today
-Had one meltdown about maths homework

Other than that, we're doing fine! Actually, surprised by how well she's settling and pleased with how much she's enjoying it. And very thankful for a straightforward journey for her (having read JaneEyre's horror story!).

[um]

The problem is, I have now lost count of what ds2 has lost....I thought it couldn't be worse than ds1 but I'm afraid it is.

The worst item has been his key ring with not only his locker key on, but also our house keys and a back gate key

I suppose you could say it isn't quite as bad as the time when ds1 arrived home from swimming with someone else's underpants on.

I am now paranoid that he's dropped them in the street and that someone can enter the house. I really regret letting him have them.
After two weeks of no locker key (and, since he is not very tall, he is now resembling a walking backpack) he is paying for a replacement from his own money tomorrow.

[reeyah]

Um ... Sorry I just can't stop laughing at the mixed up underpants!!!

Hope you find your keys..

I have been wondering why my DS's bag is sooo heavy, only to discover today that he carries ALL his books?!!! Why?!!


One of the more upsetting things ( for me only, not for DS!) is the issues of bullying, mostly verbal. He is overweight due to high dose steroids and is not his fault at all. Someone has said something on most days and I'm beginning to lose my temper a little now If only the brats KNEW about him, they would feel ashamed. Anyway, any advice on how I should handle this? Ignore? As this is what children do?? Or let the teachers know? DS has mentioned at least four separate incidences now