The Last Days of Nursery and the Next Big Step

"It won't be long before our daughter says goodbye to nursery school and transfers to reception at the primary school next door. It's a big deal for us, but hopefully she will take it in her stride, despite the challenges she faces." Her mum Sandra shares how her little girl is getting older, healthier - and moving up in the world.

In a few weeks' time, our little girl Ginny becomes a slightly bigger girl. She'll be finishing at nursery school and moving on to reception class in primary school. It's a big deal for us, because we were never sure we would get this far.

Dealing with the 'Known Knowns'

She was born with a minor medical anomaly - not life threatening but enough to mean she has already been in and out of hospital on many occasions in her short life. Thankfully, we are now at the stage where we are mostly dealing with 'known knowns' and everything seems under control. We still have regular planned appointments but at least we now have some respite and semblance of normality.

For Ginny, it's resulted in her being behind the development curve in some ways - both physically and with her speech. We've been assured that she will catch up in time, so our hope is that these progress checks will increasingly just provide reassurance and not fresh concerns.

But there's no doubt, reception will be a big change for her, because this is the first time she will be spending a full day away from either one of us. To date, she has only spent half-days at nursery and either my partner or I have collected her. It's a sign of progress - and our hope - that she can now can stay somewhere all day, without interruption.

Big Plusses for Us

The primary school is next door to her nursery which is great. There are two primary schools near to us and, although the other one is closer, the fact that she is already familiar with the journey, the buildings, the connected playgrounds is a big plus. Additionally, she also has friends who will be moving up with her and will know many of the staff, so hopefully she'll take it all in her stride.

Changes with Work

For now we have these last days of nursery to enjoy - and then it's all change. Not just for her but for us too. Whilst I have been working full-time since returning from maternity leave three years ago, my partner has not. Before I went back, we decided it made sense for him to go freelance - he works as a graphic designer - and is now home-based to be close to the nursery and first point of contact during the day. I do the drop off on the way to work but after this, he is in charge and picks her up after nursery, and looks after her in the afternoon.

We accepted a drop in income for that, but now Ginny will be at school for a full day, he is keen to take on more work, even though we plan for him to remain freelance and home-based.

More Present and More Visible Too

In my case, my employer has been fantastic, and I now am able to work up to two days a week from home if I need. One day is contractual and the other has been on the understanding that I can work from home on days when we have had medical appointment in town, and catch-up out of hours as I need to.

Hopefully, those days will be fewer and further apart, and I am definitely looking forward to being more present and visible at work and enjoying a bit more income as my partner's business increases.

We'll see how things go and how Ginny settles in, but for now we are just looking forward to enjoying these last days of nursery, the long summer ahead - as well as looking back, and seeing how far we've all come.

---

Sandra; full-time working mother