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And just like that November is gone. It was wet, windy and grey for most of the month so I’m happy to look forward to a twinkling December.

This week was another full on week in the Sparkles household, continuing from last week’s dramas. We’ve got some really helpful advice on how to appeal the special school place and hopefully the friendship matter will soon be resolved at my daughter’s school. We are incredibly proud of all we have heard this week about our daughter’s behaviour and kindness in this awful situation, proof that good always shines through, which leads us nicely to this week’s sparkles.

1. Parents evening for Little Miss.

So this was a new experience for me at secondary school sitting on the other side of the desk! I was very proud of my daughter, her teachers all agree she’s bright and witty but when she’s bored can try to liven things up, this sums her up well! She’s doing well in all her lessons but I was blown away by her art work, it’s stunning.

2. Reducing plastic.

I am trying really hard to reduce plastic in our home. We have a lovely indie health food shop in town where I found this lovely new soap, produced locally by a small company. I also bought a shampoo which I can refill when it’s empty. I remember doing this in the Body Shop when I was a teenager, why did such a good idea stop?

3. Elf on the Shelf.

I love our little elf who has been with us for many years now. This week I’ve been busy on Pinterest drafting my 24 scenarios for the coming month. This is one of my favourite things of Christmas and I love the children’s reactions every day.

4. Sparkly nails.

I’m still undecided about all 10 sparkly nails but I wasn’t sure how the sparkle looked on my ring fingers only. I think it’s the only time I can get away with sparkly nail. The base colour is navy as that’s my colour for this season! (it’s a thing!)

5. parkrun 10 club.

This Saturday Little Miss joined the parkrun 10 club and as a junior will now get a special commemorative tshirt. When she first asked to come with me I thought it was simply curiosity and never expected the new Saturday morning routine we have developed. It’s definitely one of the highlights of my week, we run and talk about so many things, sometimes it’s very deep and personal other times it’s about hair styles. We’re not in it for speedy times just a run and chat.

In September 1991, at just 18, I left home to study for my BA in European Studies, French and Politics and finished my university studies in June 1996, having completed a PGCE. I was happy to leave my student years, I had genuinely enjoyed my studies and was looking forward to a career (and a salary) and new adventures. At the time, I had no plans to return to study, maybe an adult ed course in a creative or practical subject, but nothing academic.

Fast forward a couple of decades(!) and I began to seriously consider further study. I’ve found my niche in special education having worked in a ASC specialist school for the past 15 years. I’m now a member of the SLT and often in meetings which require an in-depth knowledge of the legal framework of SEN. I also lead on key areas in the school too and whilst I read around my subject I felt I needed something a little more. As a SEN parent I was keen to have more knowledge for my own personal battles too! So as from September I have been studying for the National Award for Sencos, a masters level course. I’m very lucky that my school is paying for the course so my focus is solely on the academic demands.

Even this early into the course I can see the difference between my experiences of being a student in the different centuries (omg I feel ancient after that sentence)

We all need our peers to bounce off ideas, discuss set texts etc.. As an 18 year old this was in the ‘cafe’ area of my Uni after lectures and seminars, we would drink 10p cups of coffee from a vending machine in horrible plastic brown cups around bench tables. Now we have exceptional catering on our taught days, freshly brewed coffees and teas, posh biscuits and a 2 course lunch, but it’s still a great opportunity to discuss our lectures. As we’re all based around a large geographical area we keep in contact digitally away from our taught days. We’re all connected through a What’s App group and are using it to check in and work together..

1991 me would have been blown away by the 2019 technology. We didn’t have mobile phones, the internet or our own PCs in ’91 although these would gradually appear in my 5 years of study. In 1991 I was reading books and paper or micro fiche journals and hand writing my assignments. One of my biggest worries about my new course was how the internet would impact on my studies, how do you reference a web page etc.. However these fears have been allayed and it all seems a little simpler than I remember. In fact the whole process seems more relaxed, sensible referencing guidelines and the beauty of word processing and an iCloud where I can access my work at any time on any device! I also don’t need to ever visit the university library. As we’re a distance course all our set texts are digital downloads and we can access all journals online too. I find it difficult to comprehend and a little sad that I will do a masters course without ever entering a library. Whilst I’m too much of a stationery fan to give up my notebook and pen, the digital learning platform accessed through my iPad complements the lectures and all the presentations and resources are there for me to read as the talk is done.

I was so lucky to have done my degree with no fees and the final days of a maintenance grant and feel equally grateful that this course is being financed by work. This is the biggest change in my student experiences, as most students are paying fees, there appears to be more of a corporate feel to studies and the expectation that you are paying for a high quality experience. This is also the saddest change as I believe that this new financial burden will stop some of our brightest students from poorer backgrounds attending university.

Despite the changes the structure is just the same, lectures, reading, research and lots of writing assignments. Life may change around us but academia continues as it always has and it does remain a privilege to be able to study and learn about my specialism.

On a cold and wet Saturday afternoon I was enjoying one of my happy moments, snuggled up and reading. In the Times magazine, I came across this article on David Bowie and his favourite books. The images impacted me far more than the text, how wonderful to see a celebrity reading, in fact anyone simply being pictured with a book and enjoying the pleasure of reading. It made me reflect on a recent trip with Little Man’s class to the local library as a parent helper. Our library is the hub of a community and so much more than a place to borrow books. There are many activities for all ages in the community on offer and it’s the ideal place to spend time, there is no other place where you can visit for free and be welcomed so warmly. However during our visit, the librarians who knew most of the children not simply by name but by favourite genre too asked if anyone had never been to a library before and for two of the seventeen children it was their first visit. I was genuinely shocked but the teacher and librarians quickly and sympathetically arranged a school account and the children were shown around and allowed to take a book home. I just felt sad that these two boys had never had the joy of being in a library.

As a parent I am always looking of ways of encouraging and promoting reading. Mr S reads to Little Man every night at bedtime whilst Little Miss reads to me. We do the summer reading challenge annually, Tommy the elf always brings a Christmas book to be read in the run up to Christmas and for Little Man who struggles to read we listen to stories too. I believe that we have to be the example and I try to read rather than be seen on my mobile or iPad in front of the children. I enjoy reading on all mediums and my Kindle is always in my bag for a cheeky 10 minute read whilst on taxi duty or sitting in the park. I feel that in this online world we should all step away and immerse ourselves in a literary world. We should all be a bit more David Bowie!

After the beautiful community project to commemorate the centenary of the end if World War 1 in 2018, I wondered if this would be a quieter Remembrance Sunday. In fact the service at the War memorial was very busy with possibly even more people than last year.

Our Remembrance took a personal turn this year as we ended up researching and adopting a local soldier. Little Man represented his school at the schools’ service on the Friday preceding, where the local children present art and readings in memory of the fallen. After the church service they parade to the war memorial and plant crosses in the garden of remembrance ready for Sunday. When he came home Little Man told us all that his cross was for Henry Churchill. This triggered research on the internet and we were able to find out that Henry Churchill was a 35 year old soldier in WW1 from a small hamlet near us. We found out where he was buried in France and the inscription on his grave chosen by his sister.

On Remembrance Sunday Little Man was again at the service and parade this time as a cub. It’s a big parade with veterans in old military vehicles, a military band, uniformed groups, dignitaries etc following on foot. The parade streets are lined by the public, showing respectful silence until the last group whom are the serving soldiers from the nearby military base, these are greeted with polite applause. Unusually our town’s service is always in the afternoon with the silence around 4pm as dusk starts to fall. It is very atmospheric as the memorial is on a hill by the seafront and the only sound are the waves lapping the beach.

As I stood in silence I did pray for all our war dead, however a very special prayer went to Henry Churchill and those brave pilots from my Gramps’ 609 Squadron. We do remember and I have faith that we always will.

As I published my last post this image popped up in my notifications. I genuinely don’t track any statistics, this blog is my little hobby and for me. I don’t want any pressure on follows, feeling the need to post regularly etc.. but this figure made me proud. I started Seaside Sparkles as a way of recording our family life and 5 years and 500 posts that’s what I’m still doing. It’s random, still anonymous but a genuine account of our little family.

Wow, this came through in my feed today. My little hobby of blogging is 5 years old!! I’ve so many posts in planning at the present so don’t feel it’s the time to write why I love my blog. Suffice to say I am very proud of http://www.seasidesparkles.net and look forward to recording more of our little adventures.

I feel that life recently has been quite focused on Little Miss, its her final year of primary school and there’s been SATS,a residential trip, secondary school transition visits and lots of other school events leading up to the leavers party and final assembly next week.  It is overwhelming and she’s pretty tired and definitely needing the summer holidays.

However Little Man has also been busy in the background too and has done lots of things which I’m really proud of.  This morning was his class assembly and it really was one of the best I’ve seen.  The class put such a show on, an assembly themed on Invaders and Settlers complete with time travelling machine, stunning props made in class, a funny script and some brilliant songs.  ‘Viking Rock, take me to Valhalla’ may be my favourite assembly song ever! By a strange quirk of the birth rate in our town, Little Man is in a very small class of 15, so unlike other class assemblies where everyone struggles to get a role, these children have to take on several roles each and Little Man was a Roman and Viking (clever on stage costume changes)   The change in Little Man’s demeanour on stage has been amazing, in Reception he struggled to even be on stage and looked scared, today he said lines out loud, acted brilliantly (he likes a mock fight scene) and sang his little heart out.  The teacher really had put so much into the assembly and she produced a stunning performance from them all.

His assembly came after a brilliant session at cubs the night before.  My children have grown up at the seaside and know nothing else, the beach is their playground.  Last night’s cubs was down at the sailing club where they were taught the basics of sailing and went out in the bay.  This wasn’t a special session, they have been outside every session this term and it was included in our subs.  The parents were asked to stay and help to push the boats out and bring them in again, so it was a nice session for us too as we chatted and watched in the evening sunshine.  I watched Little Man listening to the instructor and to be honest I wasn’t sure how much he was taking in, however he’s very much a doer than a listener when it comes to learning and this again showed last night.  I was impressed how well his little boat did and his enthusiasm for the activity.  I cannot put into words, how much cubs has helped Little Man’s confidence and skills. He finds school difficult because of such an academic focus, yet at cubs he can do, explore, make, participate etc.. and feels an equal. He’s already been on two camps this year and is already looking forward to camp 3 at the end of the summer holidays.

Little Man is very much looking forward to the summer holidays now, it’s days on the beach, visiting favourite places and playing with friends, no academic pressure just fun. The new school year will bring new pressures but for now summer is here.