By all accounts, I think Zoe had a great first week at school.
On Tuesday morning, I met Zoe and Sarah at school for her drop off. Zoe didn't seem anxious, in fact I thought all the kids seemed pretty calm. I'd say that Kindergarten and day care has meant that school isn't the first time kids go through one of these transitions any more.
We weren't the last parents out of the classroom, so I'm not sure how things went after we left, but Zoe was only a little clingy as we walked out, and sat down on the floor with the other kids in front of the teacher without any problems. I wasn't aware of anyone crying.
The P&C were running a "parents' cafe" afterwards, so we used this an opportunity to meet some other parents, and chat with the principal. I'm still really loving the community feel of this school.
After that, I walked back home, and checked my PO box. I received my certificates for completing my real estate licensing course, which was a great addition to the day. The first Thermomix I've sold arrived too, so now I have to deliver it to my customer.
After school, I met Zoe and Sarah at the Hawthorne Garage for a muffin, with Megan and Laura. Tanya came with Eva and Layla as well. All the girls had had a good day, and it was nice to be able to talk about their day.
Wednesday's drop off apparently went well. I walked to school to pick her up in the afternoon. She didn't see me waiting for her, so I got to watch her pack her bag up, and bring it into the classroom. She looks so big in her uniform and doing school kid stuff. We had a nice walk home together, talking about her day.
On Thursday, I thought I'd let her try out the after school care program that she's enrolled in for 30 minutes before I had to take her to her swim class, so she could get used to it before I start back at work.
I got there just as they were handing out fruit and crackers to everyone, so I let her have her fruit while I had a chat with the outside school hours care program coordinator, and then we went to swim class.
Friday was a big day. Zoe had a class in the library, a music class, and then a PE class in the pool. I'd always wondered how they'd wrangle 27 Prep-aged kids for a swim class, and I got to find out. They needed about 6 parent helpers. Four in the pool, and two on the pool deck. We also had to help get all the kids changed. I volunteered to get in the pool, since I was available. There was also the PE teacher and three teaching assistants in the pool. It was quite a production line getting the kids there and into the pool. They had defined "shoe areas" for the class currently in the pool and the class arriving, and everyone had to de-shoe and get appropriately attired for swimming while the previous class got out and dried off. We'd been told to send our kids to school in their swimsuits under their uniforms, so that made things a bit easier.
The first class was just to assess everyone's abilities so they can then group them in smaller groups accordingly.
After the class, Zoe apparently caused a minor scare by locking herself into a cubicle to get changed (they were apparently supposed to get changed in the open area). She emerged, changed, all by herself, but they had been concerned they she might have locked herself in there. I thought that was pretty funny, given she's been using toilet cubicles for at least a year.
I walked back home after that, and then walked back in the afternoon to pick her up. It's really nice that we're a walkable distance from the school. To cap the week off, Zoe got the "Star of the Week" award for her number recognition.
Overall, aside from Zoe being a bit grumpy and ratty at the end of the day, Zoe's been going really well. I think next week, with a full 5 days, will be interesting, as will the following few weeks once she realises that this is the new routine.