At the moment, J and I are faced with the possibility of Chickie's school closing and his (as well as a few other schools) combining to make a 'super school' located at the local high school around the corner. I have mixed feelings about this really.
On one hand there'll be newer, better facilities and the opportunity to do stuff his current school can't offer (eg: his current school really has nothing in the way of music/drama options) - not to mention that numbers are shrinking all over the area so funding for maintenance is barely keeping up.
On the other hand, I think Chickie's temperament suits a smaller school - I wonder how he'd manage with a really large school. I also wonder if having all the kids together means earlier exposure to things that he wouldn't normally see until he actually gets to high school (smoking for example). Not that he hasn't been exposed to smoking already but, as far as I know, he's only seen adults smoke (or am I being naive here?).
Then there's the traffic problem. The high school is around the corner and where my street is, is quite close to the traffic lights to get onto a main road here. This means its normally an absolute nightmare to get in and out of that end of the street between 3-4pm now - having the 'super school' up the road will only make it worse I'm sure (there isn't a lot of choice with main road access in this area). At least I can get home via the other end of the street - but it means driving through a bit of a maze to get there.
We had to put in a vote on whether we were interested in going ahead and it looks like the vote was in favour. At the meetings about it, they said if we do vote yes, then it will probably be 2-3 years before it starts to happen.
Has anyone had any experience with these 'super schools'? Can you pass on any thoughts or impressions you've gathered? This is one of those times I really wish I could see the future!
02 July, 2009
Errmmm...
Should I be concerned? At work there's been three people diagnosed with swine flu - two of them in my team and one of those two sits at the desk next to me.
The first team member to be diagnosed found out last Friday, I think, and then the guy who sits near me let us know this afternoon (he's been off work the last two days). I've done some reading up and it sounds like there's a good possibility I've been exposed. I have a bit of a sore throat at the moment, but there's every chance that its just my inner hypochondriac escaping!
In other news, Chickie had his 7th birthday party and it went well. I had an initial panic with the RSVP's - only having a couple by the date I'd asked for replies. So I invited four extra kids (from our mum's group), one of those was a maybe due to a netball game (she ended up not coming) and another got sick the day before. All except one of the school friends that were invited ended up RSVP'ing yes. The one that didn't had his own birthday party at pretty much the same time (Chickie and at least one other of our guests were invited to that one too). Then at the party itself we had one that had RSVP'd yes, do a no-show. Not a problem in the end though, as one of the mums had brought her other child and they were going to go do some bowling while the party was going. So I invited her to be part of the party too. The kids had a great time I think.
Next year though - a maximum of three friends over for a sleepover I think. Or am I mad for thinking that I can handle four 8 year olds overnight?
The first team member to be diagnosed found out last Friday, I think, and then the guy who sits near me let us know this afternoon (he's been off work the last two days). I've done some reading up and it sounds like there's a good possibility I've been exposed. I have a bit of a sore throat at the moment, but there's every chance that its just my inner hypochondriac escaping!
In other news, Chickie had his 7th birthday party and it went well. I had an initial panic with the RSVP's - only having a couple by the date I'd asked for replies. So I invited four extra kids (from our mum's group), one of those was a maybe due to a netball game (she ended up not coming) and another got sick the day before. All except one of the school friends that were invited ended up RSVP'ing yes. The one that didn't had his own birthday party at pretty much the same time (Chickie and at least one other of our guests were invited to that one too). Then at the party itself we had one that had RSVP'd yes, do a no-show. Not a problem in the end though, as one of the mums had brought her other child and they were going to go do some bowling while the party was going. So I invited her to be part of the party too. The kids had a great time I think.
Next year though - a maximum of three friends over for a sleepover I think. Or am I mad for thinking that I can handle four 8 year olds overnight?
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