Froglet

Poor you, I hope you feel better soon. I like that! Very true.

Oh yes! I find girls being mean so hard to deal with! Well, I’ve survived parents evenings, and a sore throat this week. I feel both are a great excuse to eat fish and chips and ice cream! Planning a weekend of washing dishes, planning, marking etc. Really hoping to see my mum and dad on Sunday - have had so much work/been so wiped out that I haven’t been over for a month. Also working on my festive socks!

I love the tidiness of things like the first of the month being on an appropriate day of the week. It’s been a very, very tough week at school and to be honest I’m worn out being positive and calm for people. On a positive note my youngest nibling was 5 on Wednesday and really liked the books I gave her. She’s having a party with a ‘Jurassic cake’ tomorrow. My eldest nibling is on stage in a school play for three evenings - such a change from the painfully shy little boy who wouldn’t play in front of anyone. My middle nibling hasn’t done anything in particular that I’m aware of this week but I’m certain she’s being lovely because she just is! I need to regroup this weekend and with a new month am planning to restart some of the resolutions I make to help me manage ‘stuff’. Happy weekend everyone!

So true. I was with a friend the other day who has two children, the youngest is 9 and this friend was worrying about what she would do with herself when her youngest was old enough to neither need/want mum around to do 'stuff' with all the time. It reminded me just how important it is to have interests other than work!

I get that - we have 3 positive staff members and various positive children at the moment. The stress is ensuring that we have adequate staffing and are within ratio in nursery. Our challenge being partly that whilst the non-nursery classes have no ratio other than 1:30 we all have children who really need 1:1 support in all of them! Sunnyday - I'm sorry you've had a wobble but perfectly understandable, especially if you've started clearing paperwork. I'm sure it will pass in time. I understand you not wanting to make a regular commitment to hearing readers weekly etc. but what about offering your support at those times of year when you know an extra pair of hands will be gladly appreciated e.g. when making Christmas/mothers/fathers day/Easter cards or on the school sports day. Or for crowd control during the nativity. All of that pending covid circumstances of course but I know I would love that kind of offer! My week has not exactly been peaceful but I do feel that there is a slight light at the end of the tunnel plus my headteacher has promised no more changes until after half-term! I had a couple of high points yesterday - I got one of my SEND children to sit through an assembly with minimal disruption to the others. Then one of the other SEND children did a great piece of work; I wanted to take a picture of him to show mummy and he let me - he normally never knowingly has his photo taken! I was so chuffed. Today I have had a much needed lie in and am having a slow paced day. I've made some 'fat rascals' to have with a cup of tea and am planning a short nap but following that really want to get school work sorted today. Wish me luck.

Hello all, Glad to hear about the good inspection! Panders - hope all goes smoothly for your grandaughter - sending lots of positive thoughts! Friday was the end to a busy week (another one!) although I think my team might be beginning to see our way out of the very complicated planning situation we have at the moment. We have a lot of 'challenging' children in our classes this year which is wearing everyone out - being patient all the time is tiring! Yesterday was just a bit of cleaning, dealing with an epic mountain of washing up and actually eating proper food for the first time in a week. I have a bit of a cold and am a bit wheezy but am negative on the LFT front so fingers crossed it stays that way. Today is all about planning and school work.

We have these at my school. They are really easy to store, carry, use and have enough space inside to keep a copy of a consent form and a mini record book. Only thing I’d say is see if they have one large enough to hold a spacer too! I wouldn’t use the wristbands though x we trialled them for a trip thinking it would help helpers be aware of who had additional medical needs but they were too big for our children - the zoo must have been littered with the ones we lost that day!

😊 My 9 year old niece told me the other day that when she grew up she wanted to be “A garden designer and Christmas” because she loves planning it so much. She cannot understand lights in November though… “Don’t they know it’s bad luck Aunty Frogelt?!”

Hmmm, there goes your festive balaclava! 😂😉

Sshh, don’t tell Sue - I just started knitting some candy cane socks! 😉

Panders - what a nightmare with the holiday, I hope they get to take it next time! My first 4 days in school went well - really intense INSET days but then a lovely couple of days with my new class. All seem to have coped well so far! I was up and at it this morning but am now flagging - the weekend school work may not get done but the laundry and shopping and library trip are! I'm hoping to do some autumn decorating this weekend but that may depend on whether I am able to get my act together this afternoon!

Well, I spent most of yesterday on the beach - paddling, dog walking and watching my two nieces have the best time playing ‘families’ in the sand. The younger one was organising her big cousin who took it in very good part and I thoroughly enjoyed the pots of leek and potato soup and ‘cherry delish’ which were brought to me for testing. As is usually the way I had to be the police, bad guys and random stranger as needed! It was a lovely week. I (just about) survived the driving. Difficult to see mum and dad in some ways as it kind of highlighted the bits of aging that I don’t notice because I see them fairly regularly. We came back today and after a load of laundry and some food shopping my introverted self has thoroughly enjoyed the peace of ‘me time’! I’m back to school on Tuesday and children return on Thursday. Plus new head and SENDCo and the return of some people who’ve been off sick for a long time. Sunnyday, I’m so pleased to hear you’re enjoying yourself. I’d recommend a specific something (coffee out or a garden centre trip) on what would have been your return date to stop you thinking ‘right now they will be…’

Please post a photo when you’re done - I’m particularly tempted by the nativity set.

So glad it's not just me - thanks for the reassurance! I've been pondering ways to manage it once school starts back again. I think I'm going to try to be more ruthless about leaving at 5pm regularly rather than 6. I'm also going to try decided on one job to take home each day (rather than my entire teacher bag of unfinished projects) and making myself do that one. I hope that gives me a sense of achievement and I feel more motivated to do other things. As for the parents... Ditto, love them dearly and would do anything for them but...

Hope all goes well! Keep nagging him - I'm glad he's doing a bit better. Well, I've had a lazy week - knitting and reading. I have done nothing on my school TDL and am away with family from tomorrow for the last week of the holiday so it won't get done then. I'm beating myself up about it, I admit that I have been lazy this summer but it has been so lovely to enjoy weeks of no pressure at all. I haven't even challenged myself to try out any new baking recipes. I seem to find it harder and harder to maintain any kind of balance with work. I don't mean that I do too much work (although that is probably the case sometimes) but that it seems to be all or nothing - I'm either at school working hard or at home when my brain and body rebel and it's really hard to motivate myself to do anything when I'm at home - whether that be jobs around the house, or necessary school jobs. I guess that had better be my new school year resolution. Apologies for the moan - despite being 'off school' everything feels a bit much at the moment. Wish me luck for tomorrow - I am driving mum and dad to our holiday venue in dad's car. Once we get there it will be fine but I might need a large dose of patience to get me through it. Can't wait to see my small people though!

I looked! Oh my goodness it’s amazing - not sure my painting skills are up to it but I want most of the site!

Zigzag that is just beautiful! Hungry caterpillar has always been one of my favourites.

Happy Friday! I am having a day of crochet - am about halfway through a cardigan which seems to be working so far! I was at a lovely wedding last night although it was someone from school which meant that my school TDL has leapt to the forefront of my mind and I am experiencing a little of that panic feeling too. Especially as I have registered that I am away for the final week of the holidays so actually only have one week at home left. That's a lot of jobs to do and people to catch up with in a short space of time! I think I need to get a notepad out and start some planning...

Socks are a very, very good distraction. My class have loved them too, spotting mine has sparked all sorts of conversations and they now know the difference between crochet and knitting - I think that’s a very important piece of learning!

Of course! Here you go - https://www.winwickmum.co.uk/sockalong I was absolutely not a knitter before I did my first pair - I’d dabbled in the basics when I was little but this was great to follow and it’s so satisfying!

I think it looks fantastic Panders. Lemon ones are my favourites too!

Just finished another pair of socks. These are for my dad. By the way how did the final fondant fancy cake turn out?

I can vividly remember my then 3 year old nephew standing in a stool and proclaiming Bear Hunt to us which he’d clearly learned at nursery. Has anyone come across the Pie Corbett reading spine - suggests core texts for different year groups (including nursery). https://shop.scholastic.co.uk/reading-spine Another person to follow for more recent book suggestions (thinking about issues around diversity etc). Is Loll Kirby - on Facebook/Instagram as Gather and grow. She’s more school based but might well have some good ideas for younger children or at least know places to look.

Hope he’s ok Sunnyday and that you thoroughly enjoy your dog holiday. I always think that the soggy walks have a reward at the end - feeling virtuous and justifying a cosy pair of dry socks and some hot chocolate!

Just wanted you all to know that I have been carrying out extensive research whilst reading this thread. The following diagram summarises my findings. (The mathematicians among you may need to close your eyes - this is in jest!)