Back to School

School started a day late for the older boys on Tuesday 27th August as the previous week’s level 8 typhoon had set everything back by a day.

We took a taxi, leaving home at 7.10am in order to arrive by 7.30. This should have allowed us plenty of time but everyone had had the same idea of dropping their little angels off in person on the first day and so the tail-back from the German Swiss International School reached some way back down the Peak Road.

On arrival wehot-footed it to the Junior Library where the boys were whisked away to their new classrooms to meet their teachers leaving a number of ex-pat families looking dazed, confused and very tired by the early morning start. Introductions followed, mutual friends and coincidences were established and a group of us left, conversation now flowing, to go and have coffee. Just like Putney then.

By the end of the first week the boys seemed happy and settled enough in their new environment to travel on the school bus. It means an even earlier start for us all as the GSIS bus picks them up at the drive entrance of our house at 6.45am. They don’t have uniform; no shirt buttons, no ties to tie, nor blazers to hunt for and thus far have worn shorts, T-shirts and sandals every day, so getting dressed is at least relatively quick.

The afternoons are a different kettle of fish, however. School officially ends at 12.30pm and, in a simple world, the boys would arrive home for lunch soon after 1pm. But no, for the school offers a myriad of Extra Curricular Activities (ECAs which are free) and Afternoon Activities (AAs which are not). There is everything from Chinese Calligraphy to Scuba Diving on offer and most of the activities take place on the school campus. At first glance the wonderful shopping basket of options looks like a simple and convenient way for Mum to extend the school day for her action-hungry boys. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The boys can now arrive home at any time between 1pm and 4pm on one of three different buses. If their activities end at 2pm there is no school bus and they need collecting. On only one day do they both finish at the same time, 2pm of course, so I am required to rush out of the house at 1.45 to collect them just as the little ones should be settling down to sleep.

The other consequence of the frenzied afternoon timetable is that we have unwittingly introduced into our morning routine the frantic hunt for tennis racquets, table tennis bat and balls, shin pads, hockey sticks, karate gi, trumpet, riding kit, sandwiches for lunch, trainers, Chinese, Science or German books (Year 5 has extra lessons in these subjects on two afternoons) snacks, swimming towels and water bottles. You’d need a degree in logistics to be on top of this lot and my attempts to master it have resulted in a huge spreadsheet on the kitchen pin board showing when, who, what and where, kit required and bus/collection time. Once the boys have gone I am left feeling physically drained and anxious about whatever they’ve forgotten and
generally in need of another two hours in bed.