This week marked a big milestone for the girls . . . Their first week enrolled in a local school here in New Zealand! So much to share on the exciting subject.
We visited the school last Friday for a tour (more on that here). The girls were pumped. We left on a giddy high, knowing the girls would start school just a few days later on Monday.
First Day
The house was filled with excitement and a healthy does of nerves come Sunday evening/Monday morning. Other than early morning flights, this past Monday morning marked the first time in over 10 months that we had to set an alarm and get out of the house by a particular time. The girls woke up excited and cooperative, eyes a combination of blurriness & giddiness at the sight of a gorgeous sunrise and the prospect of a new school experience.
School is about 10 minutes drive into town. You can start dropping off as of 8:30am, and the bell rings at 8:55am to officially start the school day. We arrived early on Day 1 so that we could fill out enrollment forms and see the girls off in their new classrooms. Before heading to their new classrooms, the girls were given QPS royal blue sweatshirts, the outer layer of their school uniforms. They both had wide grins once their sweatshirts were on. I think the idea of not entirely sticking out as the newbies - and looking like they belonged in the sea of blue students - was both comforting and exciting.
The American flag was flying at the center of the school, along with the flags from Japan, Brazil & China. Flags of new starting international students flying high! What a neat tradition and tribute.
Paige was the first to be dropped off and she went without any fanfare or jitters; she was ready! A quick introduction to her teacher (Mrs. McIntyre, aka Mrs. Mc), and a hug & "I love you" whisper in her ear and she was off to tackle the day in room 13. Let's do this, Sweet P!
Next up was Sadie over in room 24. Her classroom has a unique set-up where it's a teacher share arrangement; one teacher (Mrs. Robertson) is in the classroom Mon-Wed, and a second (Mrs. Stewart) covers Thurs/Fri. As we met Mrs. Robertson and the moment to say goodbye was encroaching, I could feel the well of emotion rising up in me. Sadie was definitely the more nervous of the two, leading up to Monday. She & I wore matching hair ties on our wrists during the day so that if we ever felt sad or nervous, we could look at it and know the other one was thinking of them, sending love, smiles & support. Standing in that classroom, I was rooting for her with all my heart and hoping we'd have a smooth goodbye. I couldn't help but think back to Sadie's first day of Kindergarten (a distant memory at this point) and it was a huge, emotional ordeal to separate her from us. We intentionally made the goodbye hug/I love you quick, and I had to avoid eye contact altogether so that Sadie didn't see my eyes filled with proud tears. She did awesome, totally calm as a cucumber, and before we knew it we were out of the classroom and she was starting her day. Sadiebear!
First Impressions
Several times throughout the day I looked down at the hair band on my wrist, wondering what the girls were up to and excited for the hours to tick by and see them. We got to school and found a prime spot to see the girls amidst the kids flowing out of the school at dismissal. Minutes later they were both bounding down the school stairs with big smiles - and then embarrassment when they saw Doug was snapping a photo of them :)
They both LOVED school and little snippets of their day immediately flooded out of their mouths. Names of students that are their new friends, things they did, what they played, where they sat, what they did at recess, etc. So heartwarming to hear what a positive experience the first day was! My favorite first day quote was from Sadie, "It was so good that it's worth waking up that early for!" :)
Paige tends to go into new situations with confidence, whereas Sadie historically has a harder time/less confidence. It's less about Sadie being shy; it's more that she does not feel comfortable with the amount of attention those kinds of new situations & people place on her. Once she gets settled, there is no shyness; she's fully integrated and is a strong (but quieter) leader. Later on Monday evening, Sadie told us how the teacher asked the class what a "setting" is. One boy answered but didn't get it quite right. And then Sadie chose to raise her hand, and answered correctly! If you know Sadie, you know the fact that she chose to raise her hand, on the first day of a new school & a new teacher, in a room full of completely new, unknown people, is just awesome!! Sadie's confidence and maturity have grown exponentially throughout our year of travel. She still gets a bit withdrawn in new situations, but now it's only a matter of minutes before she's all-in and shining bright. You could tell she also had pride in herself this week.
Buddies
Each of the girls was matched with another student in their classroom to be their "buddy" and help show them the ropes. Sadie was matched with a girl named Grace, and Paige was matched with a girl named Verity. Both girls are Kiwis and throughout the week we heard countless stories of how much fun they're having with their buddies, how much they want play dates with them, etc. We got to meet Grace and Verity, along with Siena & Flynn (two other good buddies of Sadie's) in that first day or two. Sadie even told us that Grace sent her a note saying "Sadie, you're the best friend ever!". Gotta love the simplicity of striking new friendships as kids. So nice that the girls have found some friendly kids right off the bat! Excited to see how those QPS friendships evolve and how new ones continue to develop.
Uniforms
Like the majority of NZ schools (even public ones), QPS has school uniforms. Uniforms are new to us, and a welcome change. Given our circumstances, it prevents us from having to buy loads more clothes for school and play. The uniform is relatively simple . . . for girls it's a navy blue skort (with or without leggings/tights underneath), a light blue cotton polo shirt, and a top layer for warmth (either QPs royal blue sweatshirt or navy fleece). Return to labeling everything for school!
On Tuesday morning we popped into the school's auditorium before school. Each Tuesday they have samples of all the uniform pieces so you can try them on for size (and then order newly online). They also have a rack of gently used school uniforms for sale on the cheap. We lucked out and found a skort for Paige in perfect condition, and a back-up polo in Paige's size; nothing in Sadie's size. We ended up putting an online order in for a new skort & polo t-shirt for Sadie, and new polo t-shirt for Paige. Sadie is anxiously awaiting her uniform items.
Funniest part is that a good majority of the kids - boys and girls - go to school in shorts/skorts, no coverings for their legs. We're in the throws of Fall here, so it's been high 30s at morning drop-off and gets up to maybe 50 during the day. Sure enough, after the first day, Paige has insisted on going without any leggings under her skort. We keep a pair in her backpack just in case, but they haven't been touched. I'm such a sucker for kiddos in uniforms. The girls look so darn cute!
Lunches
We'd been out of the grind of making school lunches for the girls for a year, and now we're thrown back into the routine! Each night prior Doug sits down with the girls and they map out a plan for the following day's lunch. Doug impressively takes the lead on school lunches in the mornings while I'm largely on dishes, breakfast and general get-us-out-the-door-on-time duty. Thank goodness (yet again) for Doug's amazing cooking skills! The girls eat well and have been really pleased with their first week lunches.
Funny enough, there's no cafeteria at the school. Not entirely sure if it's a covid19 precaution, but this week the kids had to eat lunch in their classrooms. Then they were free to play for the balance of the lunch/recess hour. They seem to have quickly adjusted to that new normal. No more turns in the indoor school cafeteria for these girls! In the coming weeks they'll be able to start eating their lunch outdoors. Funny all the little differences versus their previous school experiences.
Odds & Ends
Other observations and tidbits from week one at NZ school:
It's odd to have to drive to school. We're so used to NYC city living, where for years we would walk about 2 minutes to get to school. Given virtually everyone came to school on foot, parents would linger after drop-off and socialize. As well, parents would socialize waiting curbside at pick-up at the end of the day. Sadly there's really none of that here. Everyone is in a car and they just cruise past the school, with blue dressed kiddos jumping in & out of cars.
Lunch/recess is a one-hour block for the whole school. It's open campus in the sense that all kids, all grades, have free rein to run & play wherever they want on the school campus. A fun & different approach. The girls were used to lunch & recess with only their classroom & one other classroom from their grade. It's quite neat that the whole school is out & about at the same time. I love that the girls can run into each other and say hello, provided they can find each other amidst the sea of 600+ kids dressed in the same thing!
Milestone Week
So overall, week one back in school for the girls, went swimmingly. This milestone week was a big deal for so many reasons:
👊 It's the first time P&S have stepped foot in a proper school after 8+ months being homeschooled by us. We're proud of the work the four of us accomplished together over that period, but to say the girls were excited to return to a real school is an understatement! And to say we were happy to relinquish schooling responsibility to professional educators was also an understatement :) 👊 In our 262 days of travel leading up to this point, this week was the FIRST (!) time we've all been apart from each other!! We all survived/thrived. 👊 Enrolling the girls in a NZ school signifies we're not going anywhere, anytime soon. We're staying put and making the most of our time here in NZ. We continue to feeling very grateful, every passing day.
We're incredibly proud of how well the girls have adapted to this big change, and [continue to] take on new experiences/challenges in stride. They have grown so much this past year. Sadie may have come home with an actual paper certificate stating as much, but they're both super stars in our book!
p.s. The girls like to joke that QPS actually doesn't stand for Queenstown Primary School. It actually stands for Queenstown Paige & Sadie :)
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