Schools

As Caitlin is in year 6 this year we are having to think about where she goes next. In NZ you spend two years at Intermediate school and then go to college. Seems a strange arrangement to me but there you go!

The local intermediates, Glen Eden and Green Bay are not terribly well regarded and Blockhouse Bay, which is seemingly fine, is rather further afield, is on no bus route and is considering bringing in a catchment area. Most of Caitlin's friends seem to be going to the first one, inspite of its reputation.

We had heard tell of a new independent school in Henderson, about 20 minutes away from here. One of Laingholm's teachers sends her daughter there and said academically it was great but that the sporting side left a little to be desired. If we wanted c to go there, she would have to take the scholarship exam and that was to be on the 28th of May. We'd missed their open day, due to netball commitments, so I decided to call in, having warned everyone that we might have an application form to fill in. I wanted to be impressed, and let's face it I knew what to look for.

I was so disappointed. The staff seemed surly, the Head's PA who offered begrudgingly to show me round didn't listen to the fact that my daughter was in Year 6 so showed me the primary end and not the senior school. Only one room contained children, doing ICT and they were silent. There was no noise anywhere, no smiles, no happy faces, hardly any children's work and it all seemed too much trouble. The PA said she was very busy, but as I was leaving she admitted she was going back to empty the dishwasher. No one asked my name, no one shook my hand, no one will ever know whether my daughter sat the entrance exam because they have no record of our interest.

They seriously need to get their marketing sorted out. They did nothing to sell the school to me today. That does mean that C will not have to spend her pocket money on uniform as she suggested she might have to, having seen the prospectus, and a blazer costing $270.

I really need to stick to my principles. I have always said I didn't hold with private education and I feel vindicated!

C is off to the Young Leaders conference tomorrow so has to be in school bright and early in her ' school' t shirt. I must remember to take a photograph

The greatest little school in the universe

Just so that you can see why the children love school so much, here is what the teachers get up to....







They usually try this at morning tea on a Friday, with a full staffroom!!!!

Some photos and a little bit of news!

Hope you like the photos. I don’t want to worry anyone unduly but I think Anton is about to resign. He reckons he has work from the UK guaranteed and his manager in the Dept of corrections thinks he may be able to work on a particular program or two.

It’ll be good to have my happy hubby back.

Watch this space!!!!

Another day on the beach ( imagine doing this in October in UK)

Three beaches, a dog, a carrot and a new haircut

Netball fever

Next term sees netball season begin at Laingholm. Unlike many teams here, the netball teams are arranged by age and not ability. Jo is coaching the Year 6 team including Caitlin on Monday nights. Luckily she has a great manager who can organise all the organising stuff and leave Jo with the fun part, coaching the kids. Our matches are played on Saturday mornings at Te Pai Place. There are about 20 courts all in one small space. Very intimidating!

We passed there yesterday on the way to the Trust Stadium to watch the local team Northern Mystics play in the Transtasman league. The Mystics have a few really good players ( Temepara George who just won Dancing with the Stars, Sheryl Scanlon ( a current Silver Fern) and Davu, who for a netball player is a BIG girl...there is hope for us all). Unfortunately Perth Fever were a better team, always about a metre ahead of our players. Our allegiances were torn as their WA plays for the English team and was Fantastic!!!

The kids enjoyed the match, or was that just the chips? Roo caught a cap thrown out at half time (for his sister) and C got everyone's autographs.

Cookie time

Today, or rather yesterday, was the day when theory was turned into practice- The cookie mixture, or at least some of it, has been tested on willing friends, and given the thumbs up, but today was the first time that Caitlin's Cookies was unleashed onto an unsuspecting public. The event was Lactic Turkey- a walking/running/orienteering event company. The day was windy and wet- Not an auspicious start- But 250 people were registered to be there. The family arrived at 12.00 to set up the stall- And quite professional it looked in the end, and the proprietor, namely Caitlin herself, was there to add a touch of class to the proceedings.

Within an hour, we had sold about two thirds of the cookies we had cooked- Making about 150 dollars profit overall-Caitlin's Cookies was deemed to be a success!

The guy running the event also liked the cookies, and we have tentatively agreed to cook 400 for him in June

So we only now have about fifty cookies left to get through at home!!