School Days

A couple of weeks ago I took part in a campaign about first day school memories over on the Asda Life and Style blog, and it got me thinking about my school days.

My school days were, on the whole, happy ones. I enjoyed going, learning, playing with friends and I did well enough. I have flashes of recollections of my nursery and days there and I can remember most of my primary school teachers and all of my friends. I remember the odd lessons here and there. I vividly recall having The BFG and Mrs Pepperpot Stories read to the class. I remember doing some wall art display about Captain Cook when I must have been about 7 or 8. I recall putting together a topic all about rabbits! Snippets and flashes that are so clear to me, like they weren’t thirty years ago.

Then came secondary school. I went to an all-girls grammar school, so there was a fair bit of bitchiness flying around, but I made a good group of friends there. On my very first day as we sat in alphabetical order in our form room, I met a girl called Emily. She had a Winnie the Pooh pencil case and so to break the ice I asked her if she liked Winnie the Pooh as I did – she replied ‘no’! Ah, thanks! From bleak beginnings a friendship flourished and Em remains my best mate today, nearly thirty years on. From that school I remember exams and results days, and growing up. Teen years are tough, I think, so I was lucky to have close friends.

So it’s with overall fond memories that I look back at school. I know that many people don’t, so I am lucky. Which makes me think about my children.

Will they be lucky, too? Will they have happy school days?

My daughter is now 6, coming to the end of Year 1. So far, she loves it all. My girl is full of energy and curiosity, and school manages to satisfy both for her so far. My son is yet to start. He goes to nursery for two days a week, and that’s two days too many as far as he’s concerned! He’ll be going in to his preschool year there in September, and then time will tell.

I think at this age, school is probably a similar place for my kids as it was back in my day, although there’s definitely more homework now than when I was a girl. Yes, there are more tests, too, but fortunately, my daughter’s school handles them in a way that makes them painless for the children, so I don’t see it affecting them. But I think as they get older things will change and the differences between our generations will start to stretch out.

I think technology will play a huge part in those changes, especially social media and phones. I don’t just mean within school either, I think the way that the world is instantly connecting now changes things, changes childhood. For now, I can control that, but I know that the time will soon come when I all I can do is guide and advise, and I’m going to hope that that will be enough to ensure that my kids sail through their school days. I’d love for them to enjoy it all and be able to look back on them with happy memories, too.

How about you? Do you have many memories of your school days?

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post

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