Finally La Rentrée

Things have been hectic for the last few days here. My kids have gone back to school later than teh younger kids i mentioned last week as they are now both at secondary school [Collège].

My daughter is in her final year of Collège so she is an old hand at starting school at 7.50am although after the llazy days of the summer holidays, having to go to bed early and get up early is a shock to the system. Primary school kids start school at 8.30 which still seems early in comparison with Scottish shcools that start around 9am.

My son's new secondary school is in Nice which is a 20 odd minute train ride away from Antibes. Since quite a few pupils travel considerable distances,many travel further than Taran, his school starts later [8.45] to accomodate the travellers. So he leaves the house quite early but at least its not as bad as having to be in Nice for 7.50.

So far he is loving his new school , which is a great relief.

For some strange reason, my daughter's school never hands out the list of requirements untill after the school term has started. This always strikes me as crazy since by the start of the school year the bargains and special offers have ended and the choice has diminished markedly.

I never buy the fanciest folders and jotters - although some people seem to like to colour or brand coordinate everything and spend masses of extra money into the bargain.
I generally buy some of the expected items beforehand, in the hope that they will be on the list - occasionally i've been saddled with unused items but usually i've been able to guess at least some things in advance.

The first weeks of the new school year involve filling in masses of forms , writing cheques and putting covers on school text books - this being something i have never been very good at. My dad was the expert book coverer in our house - its a pity he is in Scotland and can't be press-ganged into helping.