Robin's School Introduction, Summer 2012
Robin is going to attend the Nelson Mandela School, a bilingual school targeted to children of highly mobile families (we seem to qualify). In Germany it's customary to have an introductory ceremony on the saturday before regular lessons start; here are a few impressions. Parents and relatives assemble in the, well, assembly hall, there are a few introductory speeches, older students may perform something, there is a photo opportunity, and then the children can see their future class rooms.
We think it's a very nice school, but Robin was quite apprehensive of his first day. He said "Daddy, I'm looking forward to it but at the same time I am anxious and that makes for an uncomfortable feeling in my throat." He literally had a lump in his throat. He was anxious mostly because of a bad experience with some old hags who tried to teach him how to swim by yelling at him. When I asked him why he was at the same time looking forward to it he said "because of the school cornet!" That is the traditional cone-shaped bag filled with little toys and sweets that should literally sweeten the transition to being a school kid. You know what: It works!
Grandma Gudrun and aunt Astrid joined me on this special day — Michelle was on a business trip in Portland which couldn't easily be scheduled differently, so this is partly for her! And for the rest of y'all ;-).
Astrid, thanks for the pictures!
Robin's class. Classes are a mix of students from 1st through 3rd grade. Robin is 5th from the left. Behind the children are their three teachers. |
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I had bought longer pants for him, but they seemed to tend to slip so we resorted to his old ones... after tucking the shirt in they were a little short. Ah well ;-). |
"Daddy, use the iPad!"
OMG, why isn't daddy listening. |
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| After the formal part the parents gathered in the cafeteria for coffee and cookies while the kids went to explore their room, guided by older "buddies" that had been assigned to them. After half an hour or so we went to pick them up. I was quite proud of Robin. | ||
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Here is the school cornet! |
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Inside the class room |
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Robins's desk with his name on it |
Robin with grandma Gudrun |
Afterwards we had breakfast in a nice little café right across the street. Robin was kind of wiped out after 45 minutes of school. |
Aunt Astrid ;-) |
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