Surviving Year 7

I wrote a post about Caitlin's progress in Kindy recently. What about Ashleigh? How is she surviving Year 7?

The 1st term of this year was quite cruisey. The focus in Term 1 was to settle into high school, new routines, new teachers, new environment and new friends. The whole Year 7 class went away on a two-night camp to spend time getting to know one other. I was truly surprised when Ashleigh's homeroom teacher told me that Ashleigh had performed at the talent show on the last night at camp - a solo performaance of "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars.  I am grateful to the school and the staff for their support to help the girls settle into high school. The teachers will setting homework at a reasonable pace.

In Term 2, things moved up a notch. There were assignments - individual and group - to work through and submit on time. Exams to study for towards the end of term. Mid Term 2, there were also Parent-Teacher interviews. Chris and I together with Ashleigh had the opportunity to meet all her teachers (except for PE) to hear their feedback and discuss Ashleigh's progress. We were happy and proud to hear all positive and encouraging reports from her teachers. At the end of Term 2, Ashleigh's report card came home with pleasing results for most subjects. She was disappointed with the grade she received for Technology, since it is her favourite subject. A chat with her teacher revealed that Ashleigh had misinterpreted the assignment questions and should have seek clarification instead of keeping quiet. Well, a lesson learnt for next time.

This term, homework and assignments have really ramped up. We are currently in week 7, another 3 weeks to go till the end of term. In the last seven weeks, Ashleigh has worked on four assignments and completed two tests - Science and Maths, on top of daily homework. Another assignment to hand in and one test to sit before the term ends. The Science assignment has by far been the most challenging. It was a simple experiment on evaporation, the challenge was finding a hot day in winter which will cause the evaporation. Ashleigh had to attempt the experiment about four times before she had any success. It was one of the rare winter days when the temperature soared to 23 degrees. Success at last! I was starting to feel sorry for her and Ashleigh was feeling stressed at the continuous failures. What a relief for all of us when it was over. She received the results for her Maths test today. We are proud of her because she has topped the Maths test in her year, sharing the position with another girl. Her hardwork has paid off. It has lifted Ashleigh's spirits.

Besides her schoolwork, she has also been practising her piano skills in preparation for her Grade 5 exam in two weeks time.  She has also volunteered to play her flute at her godsis' First Eucharistic celebration on the 11th September. Ashleigh is one busy bee!

I can't wait to start our family holidays in Malaysia and Singapore. The holidays will be a great opportunity for all of us to recharge and relax after an extremely busy year in school and work.