Traditionally New Year marks sees out the old and rings in the new but for parents often it is the end of a school year and the beginning of the next which is more meaningful than waiting for the bells to chime at midnight on the 31st December.
If your child is moving up to a new class and a new school year and especially if you have a little one starting primary school or moving up to secondary school the end of the school year is an emotional time. Here at Team Netmums we’ve got our hankies at the ready.
Nurseries and schools mark the end of term with church services, end of year shows and special assemblies. Songs about new beginnings and wishing pupils well on their next steps are sung and (if you anything like us here at Team Netmums) it is nigh on impossible not to be moved and to feel a little anxious about the changes ahead.
Em and Nic are feeling particularly emotional as they wave their ‘babies’ off to high school after the summer break. The end of term marks an end to seven years of primary and time seems to have flown between the day they waved off nervous little 5 year olds in shiny shoes and brand new uniforms to the day their ‘big’ children will say goodbye to their primary schools forever and start a new journey once again. In Scotland it is a tradition for the leavers to be piped out of school by bagpipes as the rest of the pupils and teachers and parents line up and clap them on their way. Nic and Em are currently searching the web for industrial strength hankies and waterproof mascara. Neither can listen to the Abba song ‘Slipping through my fingers’ with dry eyes.
Then there are those of us on the Team how are getting ready to launch our offspring into the start of primary school. Over the summer new uniforms and bags and school shoes will be bought and dutifully named (more seasoned members of the Team know this will be the only time every item will get a carefully attached name label!). Over the summer break books about Lola and Topsy and Tim starting school will be read with a little too much enforced enthusiasm and worries that our babies might not cope and might just be absolutely too small for school will begin to creep in.
Even for those of us whose children are just moving up a year to a new class, new teachers and new challenges, the end of term marks another school year passing. And time just seems to roll by so quickly.
Holly sums it up when she says: “The first years of babies and toddlers seem to last forever. Everyone can’t resist telling you that time will fly by but caught in a fug of sleepless nights, potty training nightmares and the groundhog routine with little ones you don’t have either the energy or vision to believe them. Then one your little one starts school and you are suddenly churned along by term times and school routines. Then time seems to speed up”
Of course as we mark the end of a school year we have a long summer break stretching in front of us. For our children the six or seven weeks will seem like a never ending lifetime of fun and freedom yawning ahead.
It’s funny how time seems to go at different paces isn’t it?
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We’d love to know how you’re feeling as another nursery/school year a ends and a new one is soon to begin. Please do leave a comment to tell us how you’re feeling and whether you find the end of term a bit emotional too.
Be prepared for your child starting school with tons of advice, useful checklists and tips over on Netmums.
