Tag Archives: School

Back to School 2024

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This year Owen and Henry are starting back at school on the same day, so I am doing a combined post and an elusive picture of both of them together – easier said than done!

Owen’s First Day of Year Four

After a busy summer holiday, I think Owen is glad to get back to school for a rest. For someone who reads a lot, Owen left his holiday homework until the last minute, and was reading “How to train your Dragon” well past his bedtime last night.

In addition to the mandatory photo by the front door, I asked Owen some questions, to record how he changes over the years:

  • Height: 123cm
  • Shoe size: 2.5
  • Bike(s): Vitus Nucleus 24 for mountain biking and United Recruit 16 BMX for riding to school and at the skatepark.
  • Favourite colour: Red
  • Favourite food: Flying Cows bacon cheeseburger
  • Favourite book: How to train your dragon
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Hot wheels let’s race
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Going to the Wave waterpark in Coventry
  • What do you want to be when you grow up? A chemist

Henry’s First Day of Year One

Henry is keen to go back to school, although I am not sure that he prepared of the structure of being in a proper class, rather than the play focussed reception. Henry does not seem to be as academic as Owen, but I think he may play it down somewhat, as he sometimes reads quite long words unprompted. He was so keen to go in a meet his new teacher that he did not even look back or say bye to me.

Henry also answered the back to school questions, at least he has a more realistic career aspiration than last year…

  • Height: 101cm
  • Shoe size: 12
  • Bike(s): Orbea MX20 (Owen’s old bike) for mountain biking, Frog 52 for cycle speedway and riding to school (until the brake get removed) and a Haro Frontside 16 BMX for the skatepark and riding to school once the brakes are removed from the Frog.
  • Favourite colour: Pink
  • Favourite food: Spaghetti bolognaise
  • Favourite book: A squash and a squeeze
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Sofia the first
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Our holiday in the South Downs (blog post coming soon)
  • What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher

Henry’s First Day at School

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Henry, who still feels like the baby of the family, is starting school today! It is not as big a change as it was for Owen starting in reception, as Henry went to the preschool at school last year and went to holiday club in the classroom he will be in this year. It was nice walking to school and seeing all of Henry’s classmates from nursery, most of whom he had not seen all summer, it was also reassuring that he would have some familiar faces in his class. Henry only went to school for a few hours this afternoon, and I was surprised that parents were bringing the children into the classroom and getting them settled – Owen’s first day was in 2020, during Covid, so we just left him at the door. Having us there seemed to make it worse for Henry, but he soon settled down and was telling the teacher about our recent bike ride at Sherwood Pines, despite us not having ridden at Sherwood Pines for months. Hopefully, this was nerves, rather than mistrust of the teacher! I was quite proud that before we left him, he had already written his name in the writing area.

As with Owen, in addition to the mandatory photo by the front door, I asked Henry some questions, to record how he has changed over the years:

  • Height: 107cm
  • Shoe size: 11K
  • Bike: Frog 48
  • Favourite colour: Blue
  • Favourite food: Spaghetti bolognese
  • Favourite book: The Adventures of Paddington: Hide-and-Seek
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Alice’s Wonderland Bakery (an Alice in Wonderland spin-off on Disney+)
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Going to Saltburn-by-the-Sea
  • What do you want to be when you grow up? He does not want a job, he wants to be a princess.

Owen’s First Day of Year Three

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This year Owen and Henry are starting school on different days, so I am doing separate back-to-school posts. Stay tuned for Henry’s tomorrow – in the meantime, Jen and I are taking Henry for a special day out in Birmingham, before he starts school tomorrow.

Once again, the school holidays have flown by and Owen has gone back to school, starting in year three. Of course, after six weeks of waking up early, he decided to have a lie in this morning. I am sure that moving up to the “Junior” part of the school will be exciting for Owen, as they start to learn more exciting things, such as computer programming, there are also more options for extra curricular activities. I am sure that Owen will also be excited to see his friends again, he did see some at holiday club towards the start of the break but has not seen anyone for a couple of weeks whilst we were on our summer road trip. Towards the end of last term, there was a lot of karate talk between Owen and his friends, so we have started taking Owen to karate lessons. He has only been to a few so far, but seems to be enjoying it.

As usual, in addition to the mandatory photo by the front door, I asked Owen some questions, to record how he has changed over the years:

  • Height: 128cm
  • Shoe size: 13.5K
  • Bike: Orbea MX20 with a Haro Frontside 16 BMX for riding to school and a Vitus Nucleus 24 that he needs to grow a tiny bit more before he can ride it.
  • Favourite colour: Red
  • Favourite food: Pepperoni pizza with olives and pepper
  • Favourite book: The Beano Annual 2023
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Ninjago
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Bike ride at Sherwood Pines, completing the red-graded “Outlaw” trail
  • When I grow up I want to be a: Coder

Back to School 2022

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This year it is not just Owen going to school – Henry is starting at the preschool at Owen’s school. So I have changed the format of my “back to school” posts, with sections for each of them and a photo of the two of them together in their school uniforms, which is easier said than done!

Owen’s First Day of Year Two

Owen’s school holidays have gone fast! Back in July I was concerned about how we would keep him occupied for six weeks, but we have managed to pack the holiday full of activities! There have been family holidays, bike festivals, bike trips, school holiday club, Parkruns, a new website, play dates and even the odd quiet day at home for Owen! However I think it will be good for Owen to get back in to the school routine, and for him to hang out with his friends more – they were all so excited to see each other on the way into school this morning!

Like last year, in addition to the mandatory photo by the front door, I asked Owen some questions, to record how he changes over the years:

Henry’s First Day at Preschool

Henry has been keen to go to the same school as Owen pretty much since Owen started, and in the summer holiday he got his first chance as he was able to go to the holiday club! He was slightly nervous going in, but Owen was able to stay with him for a bit. When I collected him, Henry said that he had had a good day! Unfortunately there is a drawn out settling in process for preschool, so Henry’s first day consisted of a half hour session, where there weren’t even any other children. Still he was excited to put his school uniform on! Due to the settling in process at the school preschool, he has also started preschool at his nursery, but that will only be for two weeks.

Henry also answered the questions, for the first time:

  • Height: 101cm
  • Shoe size: 8
  • Bike: Pedals – Frog 43/Balance bike – Strider Sport
  • Favourite colour: Orange
  • Favourite food: Ham sandwiches
  • Favourite book: Peppa Pig – he could not pick one, as we usually get a couple out from the library each time we visit.
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Also Peppa Pig
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Our family holiday to Staithes
  • What do you want to be when you grow up? A digger driver

Owen’s First Day of Year One

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After what felt like a long summer holiday, Owen went back to school, to start Year One. Coming into the holiday I was worried about how we would manage to fill six weeks, but Owen seemed to have had something on most days. We had some great bike rides, at 417 Bike Park and Cannock Chase and our main holiday to Bluestone. However there is an element of relief that we no longer have to find something to occupy him during the week!

Owen really flourished in his Reception year, even with a big stint of homeschooling – I am particularly impressed at how well he has learned to read and write. He can read books himself, and even to Henry (if the stars align and they both sit still)! Hopefully the more structured learning environment in Year One will bring him on even more, although I know Owen will miss playing in the building area.

Like last year, in addition to the mandatory photo by the front door, I asked Owen some questions, to record how he changes over the years:

  • Height: 115cm
  • Shoe size: 13
  • Bike: Orbea MX20
  • Favourite colour: Red
  • Favourite food: Toad in the hole
  • Favourite book: Oi Aardvark Amazon affiliate link (he generally loves all of the “Oi” series of books, and this is the latest one we got from the library)
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl iPlayer link
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Ride our bikes at Cannock Chase
  • What do you want to be when you grow up? A digger driver

Owen’s First Day at School

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For Jen and I, it is hard to believe that our little boy is starting school today! It does not seem that long ago that he was a tiny baby in an incubator at the neonatal unit – now he’s a smart little dude heading off to school in his uniform!

I have no doubt that Owen will enjoy school, he is very inquisitive and enjoys learning about numbers – he can already write his name and count to one hundred! He has met his teachers a few times, and had a settling in session earlier this week, where he definitely appeared to be truly settled in – exploring the classroom and adding his own commentary to the teacher’s story at story time. He just about managed to stay on the ride side of the line between being expressive and disruptive, although he has probably identified himself to the teachers as “one to watch”.

Along with the mandatory photo in school uniform for social media, I thought that I would ask him some questions and record the answers see how his answers change each year:

  • Height: 108cm
  • Shoe size: 10.5
  • Bike: Frog 43
  • Favourite colour: Red
  • Favourite food: Yorkshire Pudding
  • Favourite book: Super Worm (Amazon affiliate link)
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Blippi
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Trip to Dorset (blog post coming soon!)
  • What do you want to be when you grow up? A postman