What others say

January 2005 - A Parent writes:

“**** has been stretched and challenged both in the classroom and on the playing fields. In his second week of school, I picked him up from soccer club and he described to me how they had played soccer during sunset and he was in goal. All he could hear was the thud of the ball being kicked around, the odd shout and birds singing. He said he looked at the sun and felt very, very happy. This was music to the mother-of-a-new-child's ears. I can't remember a single moment when he hasn't been happy since he started at Packwood (apart from this morning because his Wetherby coat seems to have vanished). He always gives a blow-by-blow of all sorts of things that happen in class; anything to do with Mr Jones always makes me laugh out loud. He seems to relish his classwork. He is also loving his artwork (he wants to frame a William Morris picture for his Dad for Christmas) and he has enjoyed taking up the trumpet with gusto (I am beginning to hear some discernible tunes).

I never have to ask him or remind him to do anything as he enjoys it so much that he is mad keen to do it anyway. I have so many highlights from this term: seeing Mr Lee's incredibly rousing pep talks at half-time during football matches, seeing the children all playing in the golden light of the Autumn trees beside the bonfire on November 5th, seeing **** and the boys pelt from the pool to the changing rooms on a freezing winter night after canoeing club (they were far too cosseted before), watching **** rollerblading with his friends when he wasn't aware that I was there and one great memory is catching the second half of the Sixes Music Competition when we were all kept on tenterhooks by the judge's wonderful summarising speech. Every day seems to be a good one for ****.

But the biggest surprise of all for us has been to see ****’s progress. **** really was never that bothered about the academic side of things. In fact, doing homework with her in her last school was like extracting blood from a stone; she just wasn't very interested. She disliked maths particularly and I think she was sort of drifting along getting away with doing the bare minimum. Well, Mr Bourne seems to have her firing on all cylinders and she now claims that maths is her favourite subject. Although she has to a lot to learn and attain, she is really trying her hardest and she has never done that before. I caught a glimpse of a sort of fan mail letter which she had written to Mr Bourne last night and it was a page long; she told him that she was trying her hardest and that he was the best maths teacher she had ever had because now she could understand! She also said something like that she couldn't wait to come back to Packwood next term.

On the sports front, it is wonderful to see her taking on so many new activities - pop lacrosse, hockey and netball are all new to her - and even having a chance to go off and play matches. She never stops singing songs that she has learned at school and the song of the moment is the 'Personent Hodie', one which makes a pleasant change from 'Help!'"