March 05, 2009

Westhead Update - Spring 2009 - Part 1

Spring is blossoming here in England!

After such a long winter, which included the worst snow our area has seen in 18 years, it is such a blessing to be facing more sunny days, and to see the patches of purple, yellow and white flowers brightening up road sides.

When we first left Bermuda, it had been my intention to send out monthly updates, but life has, unfortunately, proven far too busy. It is difficult to believe that it is already March, but the shops are ever reminding us of the fast-approaching Easter season with the sale of chocolate eggs, which appeared as soon as Valentine's was over.

One of the biggest events since the New Year was Jonathan starting nursery at Fitzwilliam Primary, the same school Andrew and his siblings attended as children. Andrew, in fact, laughed at how little the main school building has changed since he was a boy!

Originally, Jonathan attended 2-1/2 hours every afternoon, but since the mid-term holiday, that has increased to 3 hours a day. He has settled in beautifully, and loves to go to school. I even got a big thumbs up from one of the teachers a few weeks after he started, to let me know that Jonathan actually SPOKE!

His speech has drastically improved, though he is still very shy about talking away from home.

Tommy is proving to be quite the little history buff, as the subject seems to becoming his favourite. He absolutely loved learning about the Black Death and the Great Fire of London during the first half of this term, and is equally excited about learning about World War Two during the second half. He did, however, get somewhat distressed about the evacuations of children from London during the German bombing raids.

He has recently given up on football on Saturday mornings, which, in a way is a bit of a blessing for us, as it means we now have more time on a Saturday to do things as a family. He apparently wasn't the only child who could no longer face running around in 0˚C weather, often in wet and/or semi-frozen conditions.

He has, however, recently begun karate through a 5-week taster course being given through his school, Crofton Infants. He begged us to be allowed to try it, and after speaking with the karate instructor about some of our concerns over how it would be taught, we agreed. He is absolutely loving learning about karate as a sport, and would like to go on to take more lessons, but is still looking forward to being old enough to begin fencing!

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