Oasis Academy - school at last.

When it got to the month of May, I was pretty sure that I would just continue to home school the boys and not bother with them going to a local school while we were here.  I was getting really peeved at the processing time for the school application through the council – they were not joking about taking 4 weeks and never could give an update until that 4 weeks was up.*  

I was also feeling very daunted by the likely heart-wrenching I would endure with having several teachers tear Charlie off me to even get him into the classroom.  This was pressing down on me pretty hard, actually, as I had tried to get him to go to school when in Sunderland earlier on and that was a real mess.  I also thought that we would have freedom without the school routine so to see different things around London, etc. 

But then there was the other voice of reason in my mind pointing out that the boys could do with some interaction with other kids, might make some friends, would gain from just going to another school in another country... I could also do with some time on my own too to do things, like visit my sis & write this for example!

So off they went to Oasis Academy.  

That was 3 weeks ago and I happy to report that Charlie did not kick off and although he was sad in the first few days (“I didn’t cry today but I just wanted to be with you, mummy.”  Awww.), he has settled well and is enjoying it.  Tyler had no probs settling in.  He met kids from his year even before the first day when we visited the school and scored a birthday invite on his second day there.  

Still, the boys (Tyler particularly, as he can compare experiences) are looking forward to going home and to Errol St Primary.  Tyler has already voluntarily given me 3 reasons why he prefers Errol St Primary.  He’s quite into “three reasons why...” discussions at the mo!  On this occasion, he started by saying that he did like Oasis Academy and the teachers and kids there, but at Errol St...


  1.  There is a separate library and art room (these are Tyler’s 2 favourite things to do).
 2.   There are green areas to play on (all bitumen at Oasis unless you’re in the reception / Year 1 area).
 3.   No school uniform (what’s so wrong with a purple jumper?  I like them!)

The kids at this school are pretty multicultural, very out there and confident.  Most are into Bayblades and not a Mighty Bean being traded anywhere.  There are some pretty vast differences between influences in the sense of what TV shows and Playstation / Xbox / Wii games they play compared to Tyler and Charlie, but that is a rite of passage in the schoolyard I guess.  We’re still going to stand our ground with South Park, Family Guy and Call of Duty being off limits though. 

And now the summer holidays are looming and as of 22^nd July they will have 8 weeks off!  They will both go back to school for a little while when the year starts in Sept, but probably for only 4 weeks or so.  Then we’ll be upping sticks from Croydon and heading North, Pete having put his contract work behind him.

* Let’s talk about process for a moment.  I love a good process and with my customer experience and performance improvement hat on (intricately crafted hat too, through my 12 years at Optus) I could see the holes in this one.  Taking a step away from my usual ‘keep quiet, say nothing’ attitude I suggested to the council that they could call all 6 schools on my form in 1 day to enquire about places and email or call me with the outcome the next day to speed things up.  Oh no.  Britain has this strange pride over retaining antiquated ways of doing things, so this meant that the council had to send all 6 schools letters...  through the post.  The schools then get 5 working days to reply and they must do so in writing... through the post.  Then the council will update me with the outcome... through the post.  And then it was only to write to me to tell me the 6 schools I put down had no places.   In my wait, I had called another school, Oasis Academy, and the administrator there told me there were 2 spots for my sons, but of course you need to apply through the council.  I called the council on the exact 28th day and spoke to my case officer.  I told her Oasis had room and to speak to such and such herself to get the boys there.  She was very grateful for my help seemingly as 2 days later I got an offer for enrolment at Oasis Academy... through the post.  I’m still waiting for my cheque for the 6 weeks worth of work I did for the council, but it probably got lost... through the post.