School is over for the year!
Because Ethan loves school so much, I’m a little sad that it’s over. But it will definitely be nice to have a break from making lunches, school runs, homework, etc.

Ethan will be moving up to Year 2 next year. His birthday is 27 May but he started school on 6 June, so a decision had to be made about whether he would do Year 1 or Year 2. The school’s cut-off date is around 1 June, so he was right on the “edge”. His teacher decided he should go up, and we were happy with that. He is already reading at the level of a 6.5-year-old, so I know he’ll cope perfectly well with the academic side of things. He’s also grown a whole lot in confidence and independence, so I’m not worried about the maturity aspect either. I’m sure he’ll be just fine.

We received Ethan’s school report on Tuesday, and what a glowing report it was! Not a single negative thing in it! I thought I’d share the last section – “General Comments” – as it really sums up how well Ethan has adapted to school and how much he has grown in 6 months:

“Ethan is a conscientious pupil who has made excellent academic progress since entering school. He is learning to take risks with his learning and understand that it is alright to make mistakes. He interacts nicely with his peers and has developed some lovely friendships within the class. He responds to encouragement and praise and is quietly proud of his achievements. He is always helpful and polite towards both his teachers and peers. I look forward to being able to hear about and follow his progress in the years ahead. It has been a pleasure having Ethan in my class.”

Proud? You betcha!

Last week Ethan gave Mrs Steel the “Teacher Survival Kit” I made, and she was completely blown away. In Ethan’s words, she “cried out loud”. Which is true! The next day she told me that she had cried everytime she showed it to another teacher (and by the sound of things, it was seen by most of the staff). She absolutely loved it, which made me (and Ethan!) very happy.

Yesterday was the last day of school. Ethan got to meet his new teacher for 2008, Mrs Nicholson. He described her as “quite skinny, with rectangle-shaped glasses and yellow hair”. He seems really excited about being in her class. I’m glad, because I honestly thought he would struggle with saying goodbye to Mrs Steel. He is definitely going to miss her, but he’s obviously got enough confidence and maturity to realise that he’s moving on to something new.

Ethan will have 2 of his very good friends in his class next year. They are both lovely and polite boys and I know their mums really well. We are all thrilled that they are in the same class. Because Ethan’s class this year had an intake from early April to late June, only 9 of the 22 children are going up to Year 2; the rest are staying in Year 1. And of those 9, only 3 will be in Ethan’s class next year; the other 6 will be in a different Year 2 class.
In some ways it is a real shame that the class had to be split up, because they were all so close and got along with each other so well. But on the other hand, it will be good for Ethan to make some new friends next year.

He’s excited, which is wonderful. But I’m not sure he understands that he’s on holiday for 6 weeks!