Moving schools and Zach's first week – Mummascribbles

Obviously moving to a new County means we had to move Zach to a new school. The whole process was a right bloody pain because of lockdown and because Cambridgeshire weren’t processing any new in year admissions that they received after 5th January. For a while I didn’t think I could even apply but I think that was me not reading the website properly and them keeping their application link really well hidden. I managed to submit the application the week after we moved in but I wasn’t sure when they would get around to dealing with it and I didn’t expect to be sending him to school on 8th March when all the children were due back. I was stressed at the situation because obviously his current school was in Hertfordshire and I couldn’t exactly drive 60 miles there and back twice a day. That just wasn’t a possibility. I honestly wasn’t sure what was going to happen and whether I would start getting letters from the council for not sending him in.

The day after I applied, I got an automated email to let me know that they were processing my application. And the day after that I got another email from an actual human being asking me to send a copy of his birth certificate over to them. I was unsure if this was just protocol or whether they were actually processing his application despite saying they wouldn’t be for a while.

The days went by and the end of the week was nearing. And still we had no school place. Gah. What a mess!

And then on the Friday morning at about 8.30, a little email pinged into my inbox with an offer letter from the school that I knew had places available in his year group. I was over the ruddy moon and he was so happy. I had been desperate for him to return on the Monday along with all the other children so that he didn’t feel too awkward. I thought it might be worse if he knew they had all gone back on the 8th and he hadn’t.

I immediately called the school and accepted the place and they invited Zach and I along for a quick tour that afternoon so that he and I knew where we needed to go on the Monday morning. So off we went at 3pm and he was so excited. We met the headteacher and he showed us around, and Zach spoke to a few members of the staff and met one of his teachers (he has two as they job share), and I was shown where I needed to drop him off and how the one way system worked. It was helpful for both of us so we knew exactly what we needed to do on the Monday morning. He was a very happy bunny and declared that he thought his new school was amazing!

The weekend went by and I had a very kind donation of old uniform from a local Mum, so he was raring to go with his school jumper on Monday morning, along with the trainers that he’s been told he can wear until the end of term – the kids have all grown so much being at home, the head didn’t think it right to demand parents to buy new school shoes – especially not knowing how long they will actually be there this time!

So on Monday morning we went off for our first school run in forever and the first to his new school. It is a nice easy route so there was no getting lost for me – it takes about 15 minutes and isn’t the closest (which is just round the corner), but it was the only one with space and was actually my favourite of the three in the area.

He was so nervous bless him. I could tell because he was very quiet on the way to school, and then when we got into the playground and was waiting for the headteacher to be free, he was jittery and unfocused and I could just tell he was full of nerves. I left him being led off to his classroom (which he couldn’t remember the way to), and I could have cried! All the emotions were there with it being the return for all of them, and his first day.

I couldn’t stop thinking about him all day, hoping he was OK. He is such a confident little boy and makes friends wherever he goes so I had a feeling he would be absolutely fine, but you never know with these things. It is a massive thing to move from a school that you’ve been at for almost four years to suddenly being the new boy.

3pm came round and it was time to go and get him. I queued up and waited until we were allowed to go into the playground, and when we were, he spotted me and came running over. He was so happy, declared he’d had a brilliant day, and his teacher confirmed the same. I was so relieved!

And now his first full week is complete. He has made friends, had fun, enjoyed his lessons, and likes his teachers. There isn’t a lot more I could ask for! In fact on Friday morning, he said that he wished it wasn’t the weekend and he wants to go to school every day! That won’t last I know, but I am so pleased he feels that way.

I can’t wait until this Covid rubbish is over so that we can get back to our normal lives when he will be able to meet his friends after school and even invite them round if he wants to. But for now, I am so glad that he is happy and that we have found what seems to be a genuinely lovely school. All I have to hope now is that I can get Oscar a place there. That is a whole other story because I have to sort his school place out after the first round of allocations have gone out in April. Simply because we didn’t exchange on the house in time for the deadline they have for house movers and I had to apply through Hertfordshire whichis where we were living at the time. Ridiculous! I’m fuming about the whole situation, but there is nothing I can do other than hope there is some spare places in Reception for him! At least I got Zach a place!