All Settled In!

Well, the girls are all settled in back at school, and they are really enjoying themselves! Great excitement for Lucie as she has been accepted to start violin lessons as of next week. She decided at the age of 4 that that was the instrument she wanted to learn - even before Emi and Alice started playing! Some friends of my aunt and uncle's gave us their daughter's old violin, so she even has her very own instrument. It just looks sooooo cute!! It is a 1/4 size, cos she is still little, but has a lovely sound.

Emi and Alice had to go to their audition at PASSO (Petersfield Area Schools String Orchestra) yesterday evening. Although they have already been accepted to play, every child has an audition to determine where in the orchestra they will be placed, and also as a way to introduce them to the orchestra leaders. Lucie said to me "Mum, can I audition to play please?"!!! I had to point out to her that she needed to have had at least had a few lessons before she could play in the orchestra - I know that Alice did it in a year, and Emi in just a term of learning, but they are exceptions rather than the rule! Most kids take a couple of years before they get to go! But I am sure that within a couple of years, I will have all 3 of them playing there!

Alice is getting very excited about her school residential trip to Fairthorne Manor - an outward bounds centre about an hour and a half away. She is going with all of her year group in the first week of October. She has got all of the things that she needs already but am sure we will think of some more things she needs before she goes!! She also knows who she will be sharing a room with and is very pleased with who she was allocated. It must have been a nightmare for the teacher to sort out as she is in a big group of friends who all hang round together, so allocating each girl just one room mate must have been a hard job!! She really enjoyed her PASSO meeting yesterday and now just wants to get on with playing in such a fab orchestra! It's also a good excuse for her not to have to play in the school orchestra cos even she knows how bad it sounds!!

Emi has settled into Bohunt so well, I am amazed!! I was expecting her to take a little while to get used to being one of the youngest again and to being in school with kids 4 years older than her, and with it being such a large school, but she is so happy! She has her first violin lesson this year today with the teacher she had last year which is great as she is a fab teacher and Emi gets on really well with her, and also her first school orchestra meeting after school! I met the school music teacher the other day too - totally unplanned, we just happened to be in the same place at the same time! He seems really nice and already has Emi's card marked as someone with real potential! The way Emi spoke to him amazed me as I had never seen her show such confidence when talking to teachers etc. She has the balance exactly right - confidence without arrogance - a hard thing to master, but I am certain that she has got there!

Anyway, Alice was ill with tonsillitis at the weekend and is on 10 days worth of antibiotics which means I have to nip down to school now to give her the mid-morning dose! Will be back in the next few days with, hopefully, some layouts!!