Today marks a significant milestone for Little Bean – the conclusion of her first half term at Primary School. And frankly, she’s exhausted. These days, tears are a common occurrence within thirty minutes of the school bell. I attribute this to the fatigue and overwhelming adjustment to her new routine.
Whenever I’m asked, “How is she settling in at School?” my initial response has been optimistic: “Yeah, she’s doing great.” But let me take you back to the ‘School Admissions: The News We Didn’t Want‘ post. After an appeal where it was acknowledged that “prejudice has been shown against your daughter,” our hopes soared momentarily. We imagined her joining her pre-school friends at our first-choice school. Yet, our hopes were dashed with a blunt “no space at the inn” response.
We followed the necessary steps – attending taster days, buying the uniform, and preparing Little Bean for the new school. Initially, everything seemed fine. She liked her teacher and would eagerly ask each morning if it was time for school. But this enthusiasm has faded alarmingly. Now, each morning involves persuading her that school will be fun, and we face daily battles over wearing her uniform – a complete turnaround from her usual eagerness.
My concern deepened this week. In response to another parent’s inquiry about her school experience, I had to admit my growing worries. Little Bean feels isolated, missing her friends, and struggling to connect with her new classmates. This week she returned home with a bruised nose from a playground incident, adding to a list of troubling experiences.
Adding to my frustration, I learned from another parent that our preferred school had, in fact, started the year with an available spot in their Reception class – a spot that would have been perfect for Little Bean. It was a missed opportunity due to a lack of communication, as the space was filled by another child before we even knew it existed.
As we approach this half-term break, I’m holding onto hope that it will provide Little Bean with much-needed respite. It’s heart-wrenching to see her so disheartened. This situation has left me feeling let down by the system once again. All I can do now is hope for brighter days ahead for our little girl.
I think it take a good term for them to settle – which has really surprised me. Unfortunately, they do seem to stick to the children they know already – sorry I know this isn’t helping – there is a little boy in my son’s class who came from a different pre-school and he seems to be struggling with the whole friendship thing. My son sticks with a boy from nursery even though he doesn’t seem to like the things he does all of the time. I think they are expected to take on so much new stuff that they take refuge in who they know already (gosh so sorry this sounds awful) but I see my son starting to spread his wings and talk about children who are new to him – I am sure once they’ve had a recharge over the break they may all be better able to cope with all that is school and the friendships will start form based on actually getting to know and liking each other.
I really hope that you’re right and that this holiday will recharge her batteries enough to get her back into the right frame of mind. You just feel so helpless when you can’t be there for them 🙁
Oh no! Its so hard to hear when our little ones are upset. If you feel concerned about anything, especially if another incident like when a boy punched her on the nose, mention it to the teacher.
We’ve also had varying degrees of ups and downs. At first C was looking forward to going to school, then when we got through the half days and into the full days he took a bit of a downturn and got upset when I left him in the morning. He has got a lot better with this as the term has gone by.
He is in a class with 4 children who he went to nursery with but, as the term has gone on, he only seems to just play with 1 of them from time to time. We had an incident a couple of weeks ago where 1 child who C went to nursery with (and he knows really well) smacked C so hard with a plastic bowl that it made C’s nose bleed like niagra falls! C’s teacher dealt with this very seriously and there hasn’t been, and I hope there never will be, another incident with this other child.
The other difficulty with C has been at lunchtime. He takes 3 items in his lunch box (one slice of bread with meat or cheese), a piece of fruit (banana or pear) and raisins. He mostly eats just the sandwich, and nothing else! After a couple of discussions with the “lunchtime supervisors” (or dinner ladies as we used to call them!!) and his teacher, it was decided to give him a “buddy” to sit with at lunchtime. C and his buddy will eat together and wait for each other before going to play outside.
I just wonder if you had a discussion with Little Beans’s teacher at the beginning of next term if they could find a “buddy” for Little Bean to play with during classroom time?
Have the school given you a date for the first parent’s evening?
I did mention it to the teacher, she said “oh well I knew nothing about it”.