Day of Celebration

At the end of every school year Donhead has a Day of Celebration.  It's a lovely day where each and every boy is awarded with a prize for something they have achieved during the year.  Nicholas' prize was for 'Achievement in Science' which I think was quite appropriate, as his science knowledge is rather phenomenal, as his teacher put it.  He also got an excellent report which made him, and us, glow with pride!

 Prize giving

Nicholas had wonderful teachers this year who made a great effort to ensure that he was challenged and stimulated.  They have such clever ways of teaching the boys in a way that makes learning interesting and enticing for them.  It is always comforting for a parent to know that their child is in good hands!

 Miss Jackson

Lorraine

Nick's cards for his teachers

Nick and his buddy James

Donhead is a catholic school so at the beginning and the end of every term the whole school attends mass in the beautiful Sacred Heart Church.  There's something special about seeing all the boys on their best behaviour and listening to their sweet voices singing in such a magnificent building.  It is a happy occasion and always leaves me feeling peaceful! 

End of term mass

My handsome boy

It's a tradition to go picnicking in Cannizaro Park on the last day of school.  This year almost everyone in Nick's class joined in the fun and we spent hours cavorting around the park.  The holiday mood was definitely in the air!

Picnic in the park afterwards

One of the the boys in Nick's class left at the end of year 1.  Tiago was one of Nick's football buddies and he certainly is missed by his class mates.  We gave them a cushion made out of bits of Donhead uniform as a going away present!

Tiago and his cushion

Last day at nursery

It's not actually that long ago that Danny was a pre-schooler with little care in the world.  Now he is a big boy at big school.  Our lives have changed so much over the past few months.  One of the best things about Danny's nursery experience is that he had a soul mate.  It's so nice when a feeling of friendship is mutual.  And with Danny and Isla it most certainly was the case.  It's a real pity that they won't be going to the same school but hopefully we can still keep their friendship alive!

Not a day goes by that I am not thankful that we made the right choice for Danny's nursery education.  He flourished under Mrs Stride's care, she really is a wonderful teacher, treating each child as an individual.  The teaching assistants (Miss Walsh, Lina and Anja) were so caring and loved Danny to bits (but who wouldn't love such a sweet little character).  Looking back now the nursery chapter of Danny's life is a wonderful memory!

Mrs Stride

 Miss Walsh

Lovely Lina

Anja

I got Danny to design a card for Mrs Stride's present and I must say I was shocked and impressed with the end result.  I promise it was all his own work!  I loved it so much I printed a few cards which we used for all the teachers.  I also took a photo of his message in the inside as a record of his handwriting at the time!

The front of the card

The back of the card

Danny's message to Mrs Stride

Mrs Stride always sang Danny's praise.  She brought the best out in him and gave him an excellent foundation for starting school.  She always made such a big fuss about his show and tells, not only how interesting his objects were, but also how impressed she was with his ability to talk about them in front of the whole class.  She also noticed that he was ready to start reading quite early on and so she started him on a reading scheme way back in April.  All this gave him a bit of a head start and a lot of confidence so I will be forever grateful to her!

Collecting earth worms for his spring show and tell
(it just takes a bit of prompting to come up with something interesting)

  

Reading one of his first books
(Top Cat by Julia Donaldson in the Songbirds reading scheme)

The nursery was divided into two classes: the older half (butterflies) and the younger half (caterpillars).  Most of the children progress from caterpillars to butterflies but because Danny is so young in the year he didn't make that transition.  There were also two sessions a day, one morning and one afternoon, some children did one or the other and some did both.  Danny only ever did mornings.  So not all the boys that moved on to Donhead from Ursuline are in this photo but in total there are about 16 of them out of 44 that came from the same nursery.  So many familiar faces can only be a good thing!

The class photo
(that I didn't buy, hence the poor quality)

Daniel's first day of school

Exactly a month ago, on the 4th of September 2013, Danny started big school.  Reception (Grade 0) starts in the September after the child's 4th birthday here in the UK.  Danny's birthday is in June so he is only 4 and 1/4 and therefore one of the youngest in the year.  He has settled in really well though and he appears to be enjoying all the new experiences that school brings.  The impression we got at our first parents' meeting is that he has already impressed his teachers.  It's been a life changing milestone for all of us but most of all for Daniel.  It's a long day for him, from 08h30 to 15h00, with extra mural activities afterwards.  He is so excited that he has finally joined Nicholas at Donhead and it is clear that Nicholas is taking the role of big brother really seriously.  For me life is much easier with both boys in one school but I do miss my little boy's company terribly during the day!

Man of the moment

Some family shots

Final moment of freedom

Exhausted at the end of the day

He took it all in his stride

It made him do cartwheels

And suddenly he seemed all grown up!

Momentous Milestone

A couple of weekends ago we went for a picnic in Richmond Park and at the last minute decided to take the boys' bikes with us.  It was a lovely sunny day and we enjoyed being out and about all together.  What made it a day to remember is that it was the day Danny succeeded at riding his bike all by himself for the first time!

Biker boys

Nick waiting for us to catch up

Stopping for a break

Another break at the crocodile tree

Finally a nice picnic spot next to the stream

Learning to ride a bike is one of those milestones, like learning to walk, starting school and losing teeth, that makes you realise that your kids are growing up way too fast.  About a month ago, we took Daniel's training wheels off, because he insisted that he didn't need them any more.  The first few times he was very wobbly, but that day in Richmond Park, he was like a pro and got it right almost immediately. Not sure who was more excited and proud, him or us, or Nicholas for that matter.  Here's the story told in pictures!

It started off like this


Soon progressing to this

Begging Dad to let go


Getting braver and braver

There was no stopping him by the end

A determined boy

A proud boy

Following his big brother

Even when a bit risky




And a video clip

This is when Nicholas reached the same milestone.  Now he can ride with no hands.  He is fast and risky.  After a terrible crash in February we eventually realised that we needed to get the boys helmets.  Next we need a bike rack and a fourth bike.  I envisage lots of fun biking adventures together as a family!