CHAT ROOM

[quote:02100322cd="SteveyC"]hehe don't mind, I'm used to it. My lifestyle denotes that most of my friends and folk I spend time with are all older than me as most peeps my age are still 'going out on the lash' and contracting STDs. Consequently I often get comments like yours and kind of take them as a compliment (in my little head anyways :icon_biggrin: )[/quote:02100322cd]

never did that 'goin out on the lash' thing either, i got married when i was 19 and had my first daughter when i was 21, have to grow up pretty quickly

Great minds think alike. Married at 20, first son at 20. Second at 22. Bosh next stop divorce :icon_mrgreen:

Yeah, afraid that happened to me, well didn't really 'happen' to me, was always gonna happen to 'us'. Got my son and daughter out of an otherwise fruitless 14 years tho,met him when i was 15. But anyways, found Gaz, been blissfully happy for last 6years and have added Poppy to the offspring count. Your boys look gorgeous on those photos and don't you feel as though you're just giving them the best possible opportunities by taking them to a place where their aspirations will have room to grow and their desires encouraged. That may sound a little cheesy but it's what i want for my kids!!!

Then the 14 rys of strife were probably worth it eh.
My boys are indeed gorgeous, but MB failed to point out that my eldest looking cute and angelic. He's just Puked over my car, see that white stuff down his front?? Likkle Watsit :icon_evil:

Well that's kind of my reasoning with going now, we wanna go before school age, cos in NZ we might actually consider putting them in school. In the UK however we wouldn't dream of it! I think it's ok to be cheesy about things like that to be honest, anything but the best is unacceptable for my kids and 12000 miles isn't much of a barrier really.

good on y mate! Don't blame y, the education system here is crap!! Talk about a sausage factory.

Laurens done OK seems to have suited her, shes on track for at least 3 A*GCSE's but Charlie hates goin, it's a struggle to get him out the door every mornin, not that we'd mind if he didn't go but the local authority'd be draggin us into custody. Poppy on the other hand is a whole differrent kettle of fish, we'd be in school every day for behaviour issues I think. Not coz shes bad but jus coz she gets fed up of doin the same thing for longer than 10 minutes at a time which is jus about how long it takes her to learn somethin new and she does like to do things her own way! She should be running down a mountainside with the wind in her hair not being tied to a chair at a desk.

We are hopin that NZ can offer a little more in the vain of creative learnin - coz our kids seem to refuse to be pigeonholed.

Cant think where they get it from! :icon_rolleyes:

the school thing is also an issue with us,the constant testing from such a young age,then the doing away with "competitive sport"but bringing out school league tables,whats allthat about
we met a teacher and was explaining how we found schools in england and the kiwi teacher was shocked ,but at the end of the day we would all love bright kids but the most important thing is their happy

Our 6 year old daughter has been in school in NZ now for nearly a year and we are more than happy with the way she is progressing. As is the case in any school in the world, there are those who are more academically advanced than others in the same class, but they are equally recognised for their talents and achievements in other areas, be it sports, singing, or any other 'non-academic' skill. As parents, we are all keen for our kids to achieve well academically, but we are also just as proud if they make the school sports team or choose to join the choir.

They also have a scheme running in our daughters school which rewards 'citizenship with excellence', which teaches how to treat people with kindness and generosity, how to help people in need, how to be sensitive to people's feelings, never to be mean or hurtful, to think about how your actions will affect others and to remember that we become caring people by doing caring things. This really does work! I don't know if it's a New Zealand wide thing, but I would lay a bet that most schools here run a similar scheme. I put 3 boys through school in the UK and I never encountered anything like it in any of their schools. The latest topic in class (and remember, these are only 5 and 6 year olds) is respect and how to be respectful. It is started from such a young age, by the time they reach their teens, it is natural to them. That's not to say there aren't troublesome teens here, but the majority we have met have been polite, respectful and it's been a delight to experience most of them.

This sort of teaching is not producing namby-pamby kids either. On the contrary, most kids are not turning into a bunch of walkovers in their efforts to be 'nice' to people - they are confident and have belief in themselves, no matter where their skills and talents lie. (Kiwi's are renowned for being overly modest which doesn't mean that they don't have skills and they don't recognise that they have skills, it just means they don't brag about it!).

The schools motto is 'Truth is Trust' - this is taught and practiced, and, imho, is producing an awesome generation of kids we can be proud of and who can be proud of themselves.

Nuff said :icon_mrgreen:

S'all true WG I read that and it warms my heart. As a christian kind of bloke (another suprise Dawn?) the main focus and drive of my belief if to be a good person and help others to do so. Forget all the 'religious' bs that goes with it, ultimately that's my mission in life not because I was told to by the vicar, it's just......better!!!

Over here the lines are so blurred on EVERYTHING be it, the hilarious contradiction in banned competetive sports vs league tables; Academic vs Creative talent; IQ vs Emotional IQ; Cultural Diversity vs Integration and Acceptance; Punishing parents for not controlling kids vs banning discipline, and ultimately socially acceptable behaviour vs down right immoral, savage behaviour.

It's all gone horribly wrong and it pains me to say, I'm blatantly running from it by this move, rightly or wrongly.

great post welshgirl..

if ever there was a reason to want to try new zealand.. then thats it there in that post.

stevey, lay off the sherry mate!

[quote:c17def4727="SteveyC"]S'all true WG I read that and it warms my heart. As a christian kind of bloke (another suprise Dawn?) the main focus and drive of my belief if to be a good person and help others to do so. [/quote:c17def4727]

What do y mean, surprise? I neva judge people before i get to know them and I haven't made assumptions about who you are. I'm completely cool with spirituality. Natty and I were havin an interestin conversation about religion in schools in the chat room the other night actually as I'd just had my knuckles rapped by the head of a C of E school I teach in. Pity you didn't pop y head in.

My eldest brother is a vicar with a parish in Oxford. We may not believe in quite the same things but it makes for interestin conversations.

Live and let live I say. From what I can tell from the posts on this forum most of us have the same ideas about how we want to live our lives and what we want for our children. 'Pioneers' I believe we would have been called in the more exciting days of bygone yesteryear! People who want to make their own way and take responsibility for their own endeavours and mistakes not live under someone elses skewiff ideologies!

Nuff said!!.........................(for now) [smilie=amen sign.gif]


Oh yeah, and I forgot to say that I was accused the other day of running! My line manager said that there was a lot of important work to do here, a lot of kids that need help and that thinking of my own life and my own kids was selfish and unreasonable. Instead of running away from the countries social problems , I should think about the kids I'm leavin behind that won't ever get the chance!

Made me think!!! But there are kids over there too that I can help once I'm there. It's all about the kids no matter where you are. Their problems are the worlds problems of tomorrow, that shouldn't be forgotten. We should all be working together.

HALLELUJAH!!!