📙 Part 2: Describe your first day at school that you remember

This episode's vocabulary

State primary school (noun) – a government-funded school for young children. → I went to a state primary school called Grange.

Up the road (phrase) – located nearby. → The café is just up the road from my office.

Anxiety (noun) – a feeling of worry or fear. → I felt a horrible sense of anxiety on my first day.

Separation anxiety (noun) – distress caused by being apart from familiar people or places. → Many children feel separation anxiety on their first day of school.

In hindsight (phrase) – thinking about a situation after it has happened. → In hindsight, I realise the problem was just a misunderstanding.

Personality clash (noun) – when two people’s characters don’t get along. → We had a personality clash and struggled to work together.

Stressful (adjective) – causing worry or tension. → It was a stressful time for me.

Positive start (phrase) – a good beginning of an activity or period. → The project had a positive start thanks to careful planning.

Tray (noun) – a flat container for holding or carrying items. → I picked the wrong tray for my books.

Labelled (adjective) – marked with a name or description. → All the boxes were clearly labelled.

Embarrassing (adjective) – making you feel shy or ashamed. → It was embarrassing to make such a mistake.

Blur (noun) – something unclear or hard to remember. → That day is just a blur in my memory.

Familiar (adjective) – well-known or easily recognised. → I was familiar with some parts of the building.

Confusion (noun) – a state of not understanding something. → The directions caused a lot of confusion.

In hindsight (phrase) – looking back and understanding something differently. → In hindsight, I could have handled it better.

Curriculum (noun) – the subjects studied in a school or course. → The curriculum includes maths, science, and history.

Classroom (noun) – a room where students are taught. → The classroom was decorated with colourful posters.

Classmate (noun) – someone who is in the same class as you. → I made friends with my new classmates.

Break time (noun) – a short period of rest during the school day. → We always played football during break time.

Homework (noun) – schoolwork done outside class. → I had a lot of homework on my first day.

Questions and Answers

Maria: You should say where the school was, how you went there, what happened that day, and how you felt on that day.

Rory: Oh god, well, this must have been about 28 years ago or something now. I went to a state primary school called Grange, at least initially. It was just up the road from where I grew up, so it was easy enough to get to on foot or by car. I think that particular day I got dropped off by car and went in with my mum. To be honest, I don't remember the fine details very well, just this horrible sense of anxiety. In fact, that might have been the separation of anxiety from being away from my parents and my home for the first time ever. Unfortunately, I didn't really like my first primary school teacher and we didn't get along very well. In hindsight, I wouldn't say she was a bad person; it was just like a, I don't know, personality clash in a stressful situation. So it wasn't a very positive time in my life.

However, I got through it in the end. I don't think, well, I don't remember it, but my mother says I picked the wrong tray to keep all my books and everything in when I entered the classroom. I'm not sure how I managed that, since everything was labelled, but it must have been a bit embarrassing. For me, it all went by in a bit of a blur, like meeting new people, attempting to make new friends, and learn about the school and finding my way around. I'd been to the nursery there, so I was at least familiar with some parts of the building, but not the bit that was the primary school, which might have added to the confusion.

If I could go back and do everything all over again, I think I'd have tried to have a more grown-up attitude about the whole thing, but of course, that's easy to say in hindsight, isn't it? Obviously, when you're, what, five or six years old, then it's not the easiest thing to do. So, I shouldn't be so harsh on myself.