Child Education

What a Difference a New School Makes…….

My eldest son started school life in a large urban school with 700 kids in attendance. I really thought he was doing well and enjoyed his time at school. It wasn’t until we moved to a new area and he joined a new school in year 3, that I realised how different his schooling was, and how much happier and educationally successful he became.

Different Types of Schools

Life in our new surroundings was different than we had ever experienced, particularly for my young son. As an only child he had always had to face the challenges and potential isolation this can bring, and when we moved to the English countryside where sheep were our neighbours as opposed to rows of houses.

A new home and town meant a new school for my son, there were few schools around due to the rural location, so we settled for the quaint little village school situated in a picturesque neighboring village. The school had been there since the 1800’s and the building had character and many original Victorian features. There was just something about it that made me feel that my son was going to really enjoy the radical change.

His school only has 90 children in attendance, so when he started there he was among a small class of 9 peers compared to 32 in his last. We did have reservations about a possible lack the technology, or old fashioned education practices, but we could not have been more wrong. Not only did the school offer fully equiped classrooms with all the latest technology, but it too offered a far better teaching technique due to a much smaller group of children demanding the attention of the teacher.

My son has the privilege of one-to-one tutoring when he was struggling, and as parents we are actively involved in his education. At his previous school the closest I got to his school was waiting for him at the gates, whereas at the new one there is new social interation between all the moms in the playground.

How can I complain when he has now ditched the ‘Playstation’ for a life enjoying the great outdoors? He is certainly a far more relaxed child and I believe this only comes with contentment. I never thought I’d see the day when my son would ride horses every week, and dig vegetable patches in the school garden! In fact I am truly envious!

Not only was it a great move for him, but a way of making new friends for me too. Until he went to the new school my son had never really gelled with a particular peer group, now he holds a social diary as he is always in demand with his friends. I am now really excited about seeing my son develop educationally. The improvement he has made since changing schools two years ago is almost beyond belief. I mean how many 8 year olds do you know that even wanna go to school when they’re sick??!!