The flight of the bumble bees...

Friday night was a bit of a milestone for me - my last daughter officially left the Penhalonga Correspondence Centre - the little school that is located on the grounds of La Rochelle. For the first time since it opened, I will not have any children there next year.

Our Grade 7 Leavers are always treated to a Dinner - and the invited Guests every year comprise of those folk who have contributed to their education in one way or another - their Parents  and the Trustees, and Teachers of the school. The children all have to make a speech, and the dinner draws a line under their Junior School careers.

Somehow every year it is like butterflies emerging from cocoons, and suddenly the children have outgrown our little Centre.

This is Courtney - at age 12, ready to fly.......

We have four children who leave the Centre this year, and all of them are going on to Peterhouse - the same boarding school that Courtney's sisters go to. Three of the children are going to the Girls school - and one is going to the Boys school. If you can guess which of the four is going to the Boys school you win yourself the title of 'demographic evaluator par excellence'....

We always try to make the dinner as special as possible - every year the table lay-up and decor are the responsibility of the mothers of the children who are leaving. This year they did a fine job with the decorations, with blue and silver being the colours chosen. I think it was a memory that the kids will carry with them for a long time. (So nice to be creating memories!). Gifts are given to the teachers as a farewell, and the children all get the gift of a photo of the graduating class as a keepsake.

The menu was chicken kebabs, honey-glazed ham and then icecream and chocolate sauce. The end of the year is such a busy time for the children - it is fantastic.