now boarding

'The potential to be a model chorister'

Well that's what the choirmaster and his singing teacher said.

This was the first real opportunity for us to speak one-to-one with theses two important people, who are in reality two individuals critical to his choral development. They're also really nice and very talented people.

There wasn't much we could say except describe the way Tom behaves at home and in our local parish church. how he loves all genres of music, how he sings to himself. He's clearly taken a lot on board, and we know he's really focussed on the technique.

That said, his teachers acknowledged his ability, his 'talent'. For sure that's what they were looking for when one year ago we first visited the school.

That makes us mighty proud.

First term review

I guess it says something when your intensity  of  blogging varies. At the beginning of the school year we were posting several times each week but since half term their frequency rapidly decreased down to one or less a week.

Clearly this says a lot about what was going on at school, our questions, concerns and the number of fresh observations. It probably also spoke to how busy Dad was at work.

So come the end of the first full term, we're all much more aware of the processes and procedures, the rules and regulations of the school, choir and boarding. Things of course are still changing; there are some major changes to the staff, for example. (If you know which school Tom is at, you'll know what I mean). 

Here are some of the main points of interest:

Unknown unknowns

I think all of us probationer parents suffered from not knowing what we didn't know (as Jahari's window would put it). From 'Peris' to 'Dec', music practice and prep. The point here is that we often had to email other parents to get the answers as I guess there was a bit of an assumption on the school's part that we knew what everything meant.

Boarding

This has always been the thing with Tom; he hasn't liked the boarding at all - at least that's what he always tells us. We know to begin with he was very homesick, but after half-term there were signs that was changing and now in the Christmas holidays he even said that he was getting used to it. 

Occasionally the nurses say, they need to shuffle the boys around a bit. This happened in Tom's case as one or two of the boys in his dorm tended to stay awake a little longer than they should have, and kept Tom up. They're a little older than Tom and this meant our Tom suffered a bit. So after the change around boarding generally got a lot easier for Tom (a fact noticed by many).

Still, if Tom ever complains about this whole experience, he refers to the boarding, saying he loves the school, the choir, but hates the boarding. This will be a problem when he's 'made up' to the full choir.

Prep and music practice

This is an interesting one as the thing about boarding is that by definition we're not around to supervise and support. Neither mum or dad boarded so we're learning as we go along; to begin with for example, we didn't even realise he had a prep 'diary' where each day's prep was clearly listed. So each evening after supper the boys have an hour or so to do their 20 minutes prep, 20 minutes music practice and some reading and when mum and dad don't visit, we rely on Tom and the available staff to ensure he does what he's meant to do. Clearly the staff do a great job - but it ain't easy, especially when the boys are tired. Still, they're getting used to it and there are senior boys to set an example.

As neither mum  or dad are 'players', music practice is becoming a challenge for us to supervise. Tom's grasp of music theory has quickly surpassed ours and although his mum's a singer and dad has the basics, we believe this is one area where the school could provide some additional support.

Routine

There's a lot of personal responsibility given the boys and the school and choir demand a lot during the week. This routine is critical in helping them navigate all that is required of them - routine is both guide and distraction when they're missing home.

I have to say that the boarding staff, the nurses and helpers are all hugely understanding of the boarders and their parents - in fact their role is pretty much critical in making it all work. We make a point of letting them know how much they are appreciated.

A solo is no big thing

Tom's solo'd in public a couple of times now, both carol services. He didn't really make a big thing about either, in fact it was the head of boarding that told us about one of the. The thing is, he takes it all in his stride, there's absolutely no stress, it's all completely normal - it's just what he does.

In the PTA

Yup - I signed up, want to do my bit and not let opportunities pass. They're all super bright folk in the PTA and there's more engagement than we got at Tom's old (state) school. What do you expect? It's the parent's hard earned cash at stake.

It's still early days and we're all finding our way around; learning the unique ways of the school, it's quirks and idiosyncrasies. Out of the committee members, there's only three of us who are Chorister parents and that includes two of us who are probationer parents.

Not surprising that, as choristers board it does mean that many of the parents live a way away. Still I want to represent and of course have a say in shaping my son's future.