So it begins!

This is the face of a brand-new highschooler (and yes, I know - he refuses to stand up straight...). School officially kicked off for the new students at 7:30 this morning. He has to be there by 7:25, so had worked out he needs to leave by 7:10 and be up around 6. Being prone to liking my sleep, my alarm is set for 6:20 - so he had to make do with that.

He's walking to school - it's not right down the road like his primary school was, but rather about a half-kilometre or less from our house. Carrying a heavy backpack with every single book in it's a good thing it's downhill! I'm hoping he'll find a lift back up after school.

Got a couple of "klagtes" (gripes) about the school though. They've been short on info-supply (and I thrive on info). They didn't let parents know to accompany their kids on the orientation day - fortunately mine wasn't the only solo kid there, and he coped very well. The rule book they sent is printed on one side of each sheet only - missing most of the information completely, so we have no idea what half the stuff needs to be. I don't know what time school ends each day, nor have I seen a year calendar from them to say what other events are expected from us. There hasn't been a meet-and-greet for parents to get to know the principal, the teachers, the office staff, the other parents. Then again, the primary school didn't do that either, and 7 years on I still didn't know half the parents from my son's class.

However my son has coped remarkeably well so far. On orientation day he won an "Uber Grade 8" gift bag, has already started to make new friends, sorted out all his own form-filling, and - for the first time in his life - COVERED HIS OWN DARN BOOKS last night! :-) YAY, no more of that for me! :-) He left this morning actually eager to get to school for the first time in I dunno how long. He reckons it's going to be quite good, and is showing signs of attempting to do well this year already. Though he has mentioned he may consider following Mandy's example and bunking regularly (thanks Mandy for sharing your ideas on how! :-) ) - I told him he's welcome to, provided he can still pull in straight A's. In other words, he's not bunking.

This morning it was quite the thing to watch him stride off down the hill, a very different kid from the one I first saw off in Grade 1. Twice the size, definitely the teen.

Watch this space - it's a whole new era.