New Website for Ingleton School

Ingleton Primary School has just got a new website: http://www.ingleton-pri.n-yorks.sch.uk

Take a look - it gives you a much better idea of the school and if you look at the pages for Class 1 you will find a smiling Tom beaming at you!

Birthday Weekend

Saturday - Matt and Tom went to the skate park in Kirkby Lonsdale in the morning to do some practise biking so that I could stay at home in the kitchen and cook pasta for tomorrow's party.  One huge portion of Macaroni Cheese and another huge portion of Pasta Bolognaise, only took 1.5 hours - seems too little time for party preparation - kept trying to think of what I had forgotten, but couldn't think of anything.  Meanwhile the rain held off in KL and Matt and Tom had a fantastic time.  Tom kept going until his legs refused to go any further.

Matt has put together a video of his recent biking exploits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa7CwDyMJOo

In the afternoon the rain came down again.  We knew we needed to get Tom to have a nap in the afternoon as he's down on sleep and has a big couple of days coming up, so we decided to go for a drive to Dent.  It worked and he slept for a good 45 minutes.  We then went to a pub for a drink and a cheeky sticky toffee pudding before coming back home again.  Saturday evening we went out for dinner (We normally go out on a Friday night as I generally refuse to cook on a Friday - but I had a girlie night out on Friday at a fashion show at QES in Kirkby Lonsdale!  Had a fantastic evening, but not sure we will be allowed back: no-one on our table of 10 bought anything - we were all just interested in having a night out, not spending money on dubious fashion).  We finally made it to the Italian in Ingleton - run by Super Mario, and more authentic than your usual Italian - great food.

Messy Bedroom Game

Waiting for instructions

How many children can you fit in a hoop?

Sunday - Tom's big day - his first ever proper birthday party.  The morning was spent hanging around.  It was raining so we couldn't go out and there were a number of niggling little jobs that needed to be done.  Finally it got to 1pm and we headed to the scout hall to set up.  It took way longer than it should have, but we got there just in time.  We had hired 'Enjoy-a-Ball Paul' to do the party for us.  Tom used to go to his classes at Greenlands last year and loved them and Paul.  There was no way I was going to do activities myself (no idea and inability to hold the attention of little ones).  He turned up on time and from then the party was sorted.  As we thought, Paul was amazing, he held the attention of all the little ones (16 of them) and kept them working hard.  The little ones had a great time: there were no squabbles, only a couple of tears through bumped heads, just lots of smiles, laughter.  It was a joy to watch, the Mums all stayed to watch and enjoyed themselves too.  Tea went down well, no moans at the lack of party food and Tom said his Land Rover cake was 'good'!!!!!

Mums drinking tea and watching

On the parachute

Hands up - ready for wrapping!

Then Paul took command again with a number of parachute games.  Tom always got to choose teams or friends to do things with and always choose someone different, so everyone got a turn at being special which was fantastic.  At the end everyone got a football (instead of those hated party bags) and I didn't get one complaint (phew!).

All Wrapped Up

We got lots of compliments for a great party and ended the day feeling tired but happy that everyone had a good time.  It took us another hour to clean the hall - during which time Tom kicked his football around the hall - he was a very tired boy when we got home.  He was asleep within seconds of going to bed - didn't even want to count to lights off.

Land Rover Cake

THANK YOU!

Monday - we had to get up at 6.30 so that there was enough time to open all the presents - he had a ridiculous number of presents due to him having a party.  He only just made it in time.  He then went happily to school on his new scooter.  Neither Matt nor me felt like working, memories of the birth and a disturbed night not helping (Tom woke up with hurting legs in the night and it took a while for him to calm down and get back to sleep again).  It was a beautiful day: clear blue skies - so we did the waterfalls walk, very beautiful it was too.

A Mountain of Presents

We both went to pick up Tom after school.  He had had a good day - he got to wear the magic birthday hat which sings Happy Birthday, they ate birthday cake outside (one way to get rid of it) and they all sang Happy Birthday to him.  Once out it was straight to Settle for his swimming lesson (which he now loves - he has just started putting his head properly under the water which is a great leap forward) followed by dinner at The Royal Spice (Birthday curry seems to be a bit of a tradition now!) before heading home for a Skype with Grannie and Grandpa, and calls with Simon & Granma and Pop Pop.

Once again he went to bed very tired but happy.

Auntie Jude and Craig come to Visit

Another rubbish weekend weatherwise - oh hum!  Not to worry as Auntie Jude and Craig were coming up which is always good.  Especially as Tom has a whole new model railway to show Craig.

The morning was a useful morning.  Our new dining furniture arrived on Friday so we had mountains of cardboard and polystyrene to dispose of.  So the boys did that and went to Booths to stock up on beer whilst I vacuumed and cleaned.  (How stereotypical is that?)

Jude and Craig arrived in time for lunch, so we tucked into a mountain of cheese, cured meats and biscuits before Craig was dragged upstairs to play trains.

It stopped raining for a while so we thought we should make the most of it and quickly walk around the village.  By the time we got to The Wheatsheaf, it had started to rain again, so we ducked inside for a drink.  I had Tom's bag of things so he was happy and of course he had the undivided attention of 4 adults.

Once drinks were finished we ducked out again and decided to try another pub - so we headed down to the Three Horseshoes.  Once again Tom was more than happy.  We were enjoying ourselves now and decided to go on a proper pub crawl - what else is there to do on a rainy day.  Tom had his scooter so he was happy scooting between them all.

Playing Pool

Next stop was The Top Club (Ingleborough Men's Working Club) which was very friendly, and very very very male (Jude and I were the only females present except the lady behind the bar!)  Not to worry, here there was a pool table, so Tom had his first game of pool.  He lost but he certainly had lots of fun, especially so when he realised that the white ball keeps popping out regardless of which pocket you put it down.  In fact Craig gave Tom a quick lesson in angles with the white ball and he did really well.  Certainly lots of fun.

We then headed down to The Masons Arms to round off the evening.  I was impressed with myself - I rarely drink beer and never during the day and I wasn't drunk (think the cheese and biscuits helped).  It was a really good afternoon and the best use of a horrible day.

We came home to slow cooked Japanese curry and apple and blackberry crumble, (perfect beer food) all washed down with red wine.

With Auntie Jude and Craig

On Sunday after Jude and Craig had gone for a run (they are ridiculously fit and healthy!) we headed to Hawes and the Wensleydale Creamery.  Tom showed them the tasting room - don't think Jude could quite believe what she saw (ie Tom eating samples of all the cheeses).  We bought our usual lumps and then headed into Hawes for a walk around.  It had stopped raining so we took advantage and strolled slowly round.  We then went to the Penny Garth cafe for a greasy spoon lunch - being Yorkshire Pudding Day - both Matt and Craig had a giant Yorkshire Pudding filled with sausages, chips and gravy whilst the rest of us were a little more restrained.

Once we got home, Tom and Craig had a quick last play with the trains and then they went home.  We headed over to the Atkinsons for a play and lasagna tea.  As lovely as ever: good food, good wine, good company, great toys and the boys got on really well.  We came home full and happy.

Rant!

So as you know we are planning to take Tom out of school this year to take him to Japan.  We have been speaking to the school about it for ages.  They started out in July last year saying, don't worry, there will be new legislation, but you will be an exception.  In September they said, we weren't an exception but to take him and it will go down as unauthorised absence.  In January they told us they are very sorry but it will be a fine - the only exceptional circumstances are if someone is about to die or if your parents are in the forces / work on an oil rig?!

Humph!

We decided to get in touch with our local MP (typical smug Tory type).  We didn't hear anything, but then he put out a tweet saying he was having an on-line surgery via Skype, so we booked in.

Once we got the IT working we had the conversation.  To say he was wet is an understatement.  Being a back bencher we figured that he could do nothing except tow the line.  

The upshot of the conversation was that he was very sorry for us and our situation and that as a human being he felt for us, but he believed whole heartily in the policy and wasn't going to back down.  He said that it would cause too much bureaucracy to allow exceptions even though our case was very strong.

He spent most of the conversation rifling through papers, not looking at us and blowing his nose (how rude) .  When he was looking at us, he just winced at our arguments.  Now I'm not the most argumentative person and certainly not confrontational, but I found him the easiest person to put forward arguments to and win!

+ He winced when I mentioned that Tom has not missed a single minute of school since he started in September

+ He winced when I said that we were prepared to go to the school and provide simple Japanese lessons, Japanese cookery lessons and to Skype with the school when we were over there - and that if we were to be fined the school would miss out on it.

+ He asked us what our Headmistress said and winced again when I told him that she isn't worried about him in an academic sense as 'he's a bright button' (her words)

+ He winced when we pointed out that language education in this country is awful and that there is no provision for Japanese language education in this area so the only way Tom can get exposure to it is to visit the country.

+ He winced when I said that had he been born 2 months later it wouldn't be a problem.
+ He winced when we told him that we are a very close family and have hardly ever been apart.  Splitting Tom up from his father for a month would be detrimental to our family and have an impact on his schooling - he is such a sensitive little boy.

At no point did he even try to counter argue our points.  He knew we were right - he didn't have anything to say to us and didn't even try to convince us not to take him.

He kept quoting policy at us and saying that absence from the classroom is proven to have a negative effect on academic achievement.  How, HOW at age 5 can that be the case?  Most countries don't even send their kids to school at 5, and most of those countries are higher up the academic achievement table than the UK.

He never once told us not to take him to Japan and at one stage even said what a great opportunity it was????!  How does that work?!  We can provide Tom with a great learning opportunity that The State can't provide and for that The State will fine us?????!!!!!!!  I was sooooo angry.

The upshot of the conversation was that we should take him and pay the fine.

It's OK for politicians, I'm sure most of them send their kids to private schools - guess what this legislation doesn't apply to those in private schools.  Another case of one rule for them and another for us.

He couldn't even tell us what the fine would be.  Funny that, because our Headmistress can't tell us that either.  How are we supposed to make a decision if we don't know what the fine will be?

Oh and now I hear on the radio that the government are thinking of lengthening the school day so it is more in line with work hours - ie 9-6.  Exactly how is that going to help?  Tom's tired as it is, all they will get is tired, lethargic, miserable pupils and excuse me - I would like to spend sometime with him - he's my child after all?!  What has happened to childhood?  Surely it is a right not a privilege!  It seems that The State think parents are the worse people to be in charge of their children.  I realise that there are exceptions to the rule, but must all of us be punished because of some few irresponsible parents - punish them, not us!

Both Matt and I have had sleepless nights since.    There is a sense of doom in the house.

Can't wait for the next General Election!

Train weekend

Happy Boy

So on Saturday we had a busy day in Kendal.  We had found out last week that there was a model railway show at the leisure centre there over the weekend.  We know Tom loves these, so we headed over for a look.  It was quite big - I think there were about 10 to 15 layouts including one which must have had about 50 different trains on it.  It was mesmerising - even for me as there were always a good 2 or 3 trains on the move, and they kept changing.

There were a number of other good layouts including one which was almost of Shrewsbury.

Watching closely

I must admit I did feel very female - there were only a couple of us there. As is usual at these events it was all old men and young boys with their Dads.  I was very disappointed with the lack of facial hair amongst the old men though - I thought it was compulsory to have a beard if you have a model train layout?!

Anyway, it was a good use of a very rainy morning and well thought out. They even had sturdy plastic steps to rent so that small boys could see the layouts properly and parents didn't get crippled arms and legs (which is what normally happens).

Tom was very well behaved and as a reward Matt got him a new truck for his layout (he couldn't help himself!).  We then headed into Kendal and had lunch at Pumpkin Bistro (run by our old neighbours in Lupton) where Tom tucked into a huge plate of sausage, beans and chips.

We then did a little shopping before heading to SpecSavers where Matt and I had appointments.  I have known for a while that I need glasses - my eyesight has deteriorated quite a bit (especially in the morning when I find it hard to focus).  I took Tom into the appointment with me (armed with Matt's ipad which has lots of games on it).  He was an absolute gem - hardly knew he was there at all.

I was in there for quite a while while she tried to fathom me out.  I am short sighted and long sighted.  Have very very different sight in both my eyes.  One eye has a substantially weaker muscle than the other which is why it keeps going out of focus all the time.  Luckily my eyes did keep losing focus whilst I was there so she could see my problem.  She seemed a little perplexed and talked about prisms, but said she wasn't going to give them to me because then it is a slippery slope.  Not sure what she meant by that and stupidly didn't ask.  Anyhow, the upshot was that I now have glasses.  She said that I won't notice much of a difference but my bad eye will be made
to work harder.

Babyccino

I then had to go through the business of finding a pair of glasses that suit me - not an easy task as I don't like wearing them and don't like to be 'noticed' and feel like I'm standing out when I wear them.  Oh hum, something I have to get over I guess.  It didn't help that the sales assistant tried to sell me a blingy pair with bright pink flowers and gold and didn't understand when I told her no chance!  Anyhow, it was buy one get one free - so I now have a pair of sunglasses too!  Matt is going to be on nagging duty to make sure I wear them as I know what I am like.  I used to 'wear' glasses as a child, but refused - the school didn't make me wear them, I didn't want to wear them so I didn't - although of course I told Mum and Dad that I did!

I met up with Matt and Tom in Costa.  Tom had downed a Hot Chocolate Babyccino in one and Matt was drinking a hot apple.  I gave it a go and liked it, so ordered one for myself.  Matt was shocked and stunned that I was being seen drinking a hot drink in public and put it all over Facebook!

Came home and then Eli came round.  Yes, at last I have found another 'foreign' family in the area (ie one with no grandparents / Aunts / Uncles nearby) meaning they have no-one to babysit for them.  In fact they have only been out once since Adam (4) was born.  I suggested a baby sitting swap and they said they were up for it.  By the time Eli came round Tom was already in bed and asleep, so she didn't have to do anything, just put her feet up and enjoy some me time.  We went to The Sun Inn in Kirkby Lonsdale and had a wonderful 3 course dinner.  Didn't get home until after 11pm (go us!).

PENDOLINO!

On Sunday the weather was still dreadful, so we headed to Settle and had a day on the Settle to Carlisle railway.  Being a Sunday, our usual cafe was closed so we looked for something else.  We found a Pizza Express, went inside but were told there wasn't room (even though it was empty) so we left in a huff.  Good job, because on the other side of the road we noticed a place called 'Eaten by Monsters' - we had to have a look.  It was an American diner type of place with lots of pulled pork, ribs etc.  We had to go in mainly because the name was so good.  We weren't disappointed.  It was a very funky place, good music, good service and interesting food and presentation.  We felt 'cool' for the first time in a while.  Once we had finished lunch the rain had ended, so we did a loop of Carlisle before heading back to the station for a little bit of train-spotting and our train home.

We got home, and then I headed out to Eli's to babysit Adam.  He was still up and very excited to see me.  He was also an absolute angel, went to bed really well, did everything I asked, lay still in bed when I read him a story (something Tom is incapable of) and then happily went to sleep.  Couldn't ask for more, so I had a lovely relaxing evening.  This was much easier than babysitting Mae and Lucy.

Anyway, considering it was a revolting weekend weather wise, we did well, and boy - we ate very very well.