Today Bethany had her first school visit!
It's been a long time in the making going to school. If we still lived in the UK Bethany would have started school in September last year, but here they go to school when they turn 5. On their actual birthday to be precise, nice birthday present!
So of course Bethany turned 5 in December but here in NZ that is the summer holidays - the same as in the UK, 6 weeks, but here they are of course over the Christmas and New Year period being that it is summer here then.
The school thought it best to leave the visits till the new year, they always have a lot of new starters at this time of year and so they felt it would be a better transition for Bethany to end at Kindy and start the new year afresh at School. Of course that's all fine, and at the time I was secretly glad, it meant I could hang onto her a little bit longer, but after what will be 10 weeks off Bethany is beyond ready and so am I! 
Pinehaven School is just awesome, I knew from the moment I visited it was going to be lovely. We were taken to her room and met her lovely teacher Mrs Jones. There will be only 10 children in her class which is a fantastic number. Bethany was assigned a buddy who would look after her for the day and it was her gorgeous friend Logan who she was friends with from Kindy, not only that Tanaka was in her class too, Bethany felt instantly comfortable.
There are separate buildings at the school with the younger children being in one part and the older in another. Friday's are Discovery Days and so the three rooms of the younger children are transformed into rooms for them to discover and learn. We moved between the rooms, I followed and watched, not really needed. Every now and again Bethany would look over and check I was still there, but if I ventured forth to try and talk or offer advice I would get a 'back off mam' look! 
It really was a brilliant day, she interacted so well with the other children, she made instant friends and hooked up with friends she had missed so much from Kindy. I stood far back and watched her at break time playing with the other children, she had them all running after her - being a leader already.
Back inside Bethany was picked out along with three others (Bethany being the only new starter) to show off the painting she made that morning.
Bethany was upset when it was time to leave! She really wanted to stay and couldn't understand why she only had a few hours. She wanted her friends to come back and play too so the best course of action was distraction - with an ice cream. Next week Bethany is going in on a Thursday which is a learning day. So it will be interesting to see if she enjoys it as much when play time is over!!
I have such a good feeling about this school, everyone was so nice and I even managed to relate to Mrs Jones who was an expat from the UK too. The only down side I would say is that they could do with a uniform...I have no idea why most primary schools have no uniforms here.
So with a spring in our step the first day was magical. Bethany has been so happy all day and has never stopped talking, to the point where I had to take her aside and ask her to be quiet, for just one little tiny minute...yeah, it still never happened!
An awesome day, as I quickly write this up now I can hear the most lovely laughter from the other room, my initial worry about the changes in our lives may no longer be warranted - but lets give it a few more weeks and we will see how we all feel then!
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