We had a great Easter holiday, of course it does feel a tad long for us but not so for Tom; he's more of the opinion that he's earned it and I think he's right. As usual he spent a good chunk of time playing with his sister but mostly I know he values time by himself, which is totally understandable and common amongst the other choristers. Other than that, the three weeks and couple of days whizzed by.
He did manage to leave his prep in the classroom (again understandable at the end of a hectic holy week), and for possibly the 3rd holiday in a row I found myself visiting the school mid-holiday to collect. Need to watch out for that in future.
His end of term report was excellent again, his grades improving quite noticeably, clearly a sign that he's increasingly comfortable with the boarding and in fact the whole setup.
The painters were in and the parts of the school that I saw looked clean and bright with a good lick of paint; I know that major works are reserved for summer holidays.
Returning for a new term has never been a strong point for Tom - we've had a few wobbles previously but for this term he's really transformed; no tears (that I noticed), well organised and totally up for it. In fact he's been talking more and more about the repertoire (and in particular this Sunday's Eucharist Sanctus), which must be a good sign.
The Director of Music thought this a good sign too, and at the term's early Chorister Parent evenings he told us how well tom was doing. Not perfect of course, looking for Tom to 'let rip' occasionally and not worry about perfection.
Always good to get insight on his work in the Cathedral; and in September he'll have been there two years (he started age seven), so it's certainly a good, robust and gentle development.
The Chorister Parent evenings are annual informal, one to one opportunities to speak to the Director of Music and the singing teacher; but it's a tight schedule, barely 10 minutes allocated per chorister.
Other events take place at every beginning of term, the PTA's sale of second hand uniform sale effectively recycles valuable clothing and generates good revenue for the PTA to spend on the Children. (The most recent big ticket item the PTA has supported is a new school minibus).
