Dani finishes school today and starts the long summer holidays. End of year 3. That’s two full school years he has done here in Australia.

Another school year over…

I don’t remember anything about his last day of school last December. I only wrote a line or two about it. I only recall that it was an incredibly warm few days leading up to it. (See that post here.) Whereas this year it is cool and cloudy with a chance of rain and/or storms all week. At the end of that post I wrote that we would be taking a trip to Lightning Ridge. Dani has repeatedly said that he wanted to go back there again this year so we have booked a few days in the exact same motel. That previous trip to Lightning Ridge was a boy’s trip. This time Dani’s mum will be coming also.

Overall he has settled in very well to life down under. Kids that age generally do of course. He enjoys going to school as much for the socialising as the learning experiences. The latter varies somewhat as interest in real school stuff ebbs and flows. Again this is natural in kids that age. All in all I am happy that his education is coming along nicely.

There have been a couple of covid inspired blips on the whole school thing. There is no way any parent can say that has not affected their children. I have said it before and will continue to say it. That remote schooling online is no substitute for being in a classroom full of others the same age. Kids need to mix with their peers as much as they need to learn about history and geography. (No idea why those two subjects popped up – it could be any – but you get the point right?)

This school year he managed to lose several items of clothing even though his name was written on the tags. But he wasn’t the only one. Most of his friends have done the same. It’s just a thing for boys that age.

Next Year?

What will the next school year hold? Dani moves up to year 4 at the end of January.

I can see there being more covid related interruptions. The biggest issue I see is that here in Australia the governments and medical authorities have “approved” (I use that term loosely) the covid vaccine for 5-12 year olds. Not something I agree with at all but this is not the time to discuss that one. Suffice to say that I suspect this is why this “new Omricon variant” has suddenly hit the headlines. I have already heard news items trying to convince us that this “variant” is more infectious for children (or words to that effect). The vaccine “rollout” (yes they call it that as if it is something to get really excited about) for 5-12 year olds is expected to coincide with the start of the new school year. It should be interesting. Watch this space…

One big change in year 4 will be that each student has their own computer!!! Agh!!!! As if controlling screen time is not already hard enough. Now screen time is officially part of their schooling! Thankfully Dani has asked Santa for a laptop/PC this year and we managed to find one that was not too expensive (they definitely seem cheaper over here). So that’s killed two birds with one stone.

Finally

So there goes another school year in the life of my son. Another landmark. It’s another one of those “where did all that time go” moments. Life is like that. The older you get the faster things seem to fly by. For Dani it’s just another long year of school gone. Roll on the summer holidays.

Now it’s time to wonder how year 4 will go and how long that laptop computer will last… Not very long I suspect…