Friday, 12 January 2018

A new routine.... #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:


This was the week where we were supposed to drop back into our normal school day routine....We're not quite there yet.

The kids have gone back to school....They were happy to go back. The Christmas holidays were lovely but we were at the point where they were ready for school....I seem to have been a day behind all week....Tuesday seemed like a Monday and so on. Today feels like a Thursday. lol At least the weekend comes early!

Tuesday was great....School went well and the girls came home happy. I thought we were back into a routine then Ellie pulled a letter out of her bag....

In May she will be sitting the SATs exams and from now until then the school have decided to run a after school revision class every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for 45 minutes....It's one of those things that are not compulsory but the school would prefer the children to attend.

Ellie struggles at school and needs this extra tuition but we realised that it clashes with the choir practice after school on a Tuesday which she loves...The choir is the one thing at school which she is passionate about....I was not letting her miss out on one of the only thing she loves about school...I had a word with the teacher and explained this. The teacher did not look happy but I know if Ellie is made to quit the choir she will resent the SATs and just not even try....She agreed Ellie staying with the choir was for the best. Phew!

So now we are trying to find a new routine.....Ellie basically has an hour less to do everything she wants and needs to do on an evening and so far it's not going well....I don't know if it's just because it's the first week back or the extra 45 minutes at school are causing the bad attitude. I guess time will tell. 

What is working is the timer on Ellie's TV. She hates going to sleep and since she got a TV for her bedroom she has been going to sleep with hardly any arguments.....I have set the timer so it goes off at 9pm and she is accepting this and is going to sleep. When I used to go up to switch it off there was always an argument. Now the argument isn't there....The funny thing is she could just switch it back on but hasn't realised this yet....hehehe


17 comments :

  1. My younger one is doing SATs this year too. Had a meeting about it on Tuesday night and they seem pretty intense; an awful lot is expected of the kids. To be fair to the school they have made sure that on a Wednesday they do different lessons (think it's music and PE this term)

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    1. There is too much pressure put on the kids about the SATs...It's good your younger child's school is doing fun lessons x

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  2. Good luck to Ellie with the SATs and glad that she doesn’t have to miss out on choir. Adding an extra 45 minutes does make for a long school day though - I can imagine it must make the evenings harder. Glad to hear the timer is working well with the TV :-) #WotW

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    1. Thank you! 45 minutes doesn't seem long but it has really changed our evenings. I'm sure we'll get used to it. x

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  3. We've struggled to get back into a routine too so far this year. 3 revision sessions a week seems very excessive. Schools are obsessed with sats results and don't consider the emotional toll it has on the kids. I'm glad Ellie is staying in choir, it's great she has an activity that she loves #wotw

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    1. It does seem harder to get back in the swing of things after Christmas. I blame the gloomy weather. lol
      Yep! That is exactly what I thought about the revision classes....She loves the choir and I would have caused such a fuss if she had to give it up. Thank you x

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  4. Yes to routine and sounds like a brilliant plan with the timer, I am sure with time she will adjust. Have a fab weekend X #wotw

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    1. The timer is really working well. You have a fab weekend too! x

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  5. I think the decision to continue with choir is the best in the long run... Whilst the SATs are important, school is about more than just formal learning and having something that brings Ellie joy is just as important to keep up with at what could be a hard time for her.

    Good luck with adjusting to the new routine. A wonderful weekend to you all! #WotW

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    1. I think the decision about the choir is the best for my girl too. Thank you x

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  6. I think it's important that Ellie does keep going with the choir as she does love it and as you say, she'd just come to resent the SATs otherwise. It does still seem like quite a lot of pressure and extra work for the kids, I do hope she adjusts to the change soon x Thanks for sharing with #WotW

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    1. She really would have resented the SATs without the choir. I know my girl and she would hate school without it. Far too much pressure is put on the kids. Ugh. Thank you x

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  7. What age do they do SATS? I don't think we will have to do them with our son. Loving the idea of a timer on the TV. I wonder if that means we might get some sleep ;0)

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    1. 10/11...In year 6.
      The timer is a wonderful thing. My girl seems to know now that once the TV goes off it's time for sleep. If only I'd thought of this about 7 years ago. lol

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  8. Way too much pressure on the young ones with their SATS, my kids school have been fantastic. They never put too much pressure on and make all the extra learning as enjoyable as possible. They certainly wouldn't make the kids stay behind after school unless they really wanted too. In the long run, the SATS are to show how well the school is doing and if the school is teaching the kids right then the kids should do well in the SATS without the pressure...ok rant over! I loved your last line about Ellie not realising that she could turn the tv back on again. x

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    1. There really is too much pressure.
      The school have said the revision lessons after school are optional but the pressure is there and they are pushing every kid who needs them to take part. Ahh! I have a feeling there will be a few rants from me about the SATs in the coming months...lol

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  9. Sounds like you are going to be busy with school from now on. The sound of the TV makes me sleep as a child as I grew up in a noisy neighborhood so the TV sound masked the sound of the outside world. #wotw

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