Everything I Need to Know about British Schools I learned from Harry Potter*

*Ok, not everything, but quite a bit.

As an American unfamiliar with British schools, I didn't realize how much the books matched the genuine school system. The longer we are here, the more I see that they are very similar.

• The head of school is called the Headmaster or Headmistress as opposed to the American version which is the Principal.
• The schools are broken out into Houses and the children earn house points through academics and sports fixtures (aka competitions), such as Rugby, Hockey, Rounders, Cricket, and Netball.
• At age 11 children start at Grammar School or Secondary School where they attend for 7 years, the same as Harry heading off to Hogwarts.
• During their 5th year of Grammar School they take GCSE's in a variety of subjects, these are known as O.W.L.S. in Harry Potter.
• During their last year of Grammar School they take A-Levels in subjects they have focused on for the previous 2 years, known as N.E.W.T.s in Harry Potter.
• Boarding is an option at some Grammar Schools, but is not required.
• The older students at both Primary and Grammar schools are Prefects.
• And there are a Head Boy and Head Girl at the Grammar schools.

Some differences between UK and US schools.....

• All schools here require a uniform.  
• Non-uniform days at school don't happen very often, but when they do they are referred to as mufti-day. 
• Children are placed into their year group (equivalent to our grade levels) strictly based on their age. There is no holding children back or skipping a year based on academics. 
• Children start school a year earlier here at age 4 and this grade is called reception.  The following year the grades are number just like in the US....Year 1, Year 2, etc.
• Mathematics is called Maths, yes with an 's' on the end, the same goes for Spellings.
• Schools can serve alcohol at events such as plays, fairs, etc. 

Good Eats, New Car, and Helpful Pharmacists

9/24/16 - We went to a Seafood Festival at the Barbican. We had crab mac & cheese, prawn spring rolls, crispy prawns, and fish tacos. Which were all delicious.  Surprisingly fish tacos are very new here and aren't as popular as they are in the states. The kids decorated cookies and we walked around the stalls checking out the products from some local artisans.

9/25/16 - We purchased a 2nd car that will be Ron's primary vehicle. It is a 1989 Austin Mini Cooper. We have named her Ruby and plan to bring her back to the states. This is the what the car looked like when we first bought it. Of course anyone who knows Ron, knows he has already made several modifications, including new rims and tyres (yes, that is how it is spelled in the UK), custom speaker box, custom dash cover, custom liner for the boot (aka trunk) and a bunch of stuff under the hood that I don't remember.

10/1/16 - We learned something new about the health system. In the UK you can go see the pharmacist for minor illnesses such as earache, sore throat and bladder infection to name a few.  They are able to diagnose and prescribe antibiotics, if needed. This is very helpful if you develop any of these over a weekend when your local surgery (aka doctor's office) is closed and much more efficient that going to the hospital.

Dartmoor National Park and Buckland Abbey

Now that the kids are in school and we have all of our stuff we have settled into a routine. Rather than mundane daily posts I will post about specific topics and the places we visit.

Dartmoor National Park (9/16/16)
Annette completed her project for the Enterprise Challenge at Dartmoor Zoological Park. The challenge was for children to select an animal from a specific list, create an enclosure for said animal, write a statement as to why this animal should be added to the zoo, and stay within a budget for the addition. The winner and 4 other children would be selected and become part of a committee at the zoo. Ron and I drove up and dropped her entry off. Unfortunately she didn't win, nor was she selected for the committee, but I think she enjoyed working on the project and will try again in the future.
After that Ron and I drove up through Dartmoor National Park. It is a really beautiful area. We came to a spot where we could see all the way down to Plymouth.

It was breathtaking and this picture does not do it justice.

Buckland Abbey (9/18/16)
Buckland Abbey is a National Trust property located in Yelverton. They were having an Elisabethan Weekend, so we decided to check it out.

We started off the day by listening to a couple playing traditional Elisabethan music on traditional instruments.

We went to an archery demonstration where the archer told us the history of archery and explained the significance of his clothing. Everyone got a chance to shot some arrows.

After that we saw a falconry display and learned that hunting with falcons was a sport in which only the wealthy would partake.  The falcon landed in the tree right above us, so I was able to get a real good picture (as good as you can with a cell phone.)

Annette was selected to enter the demonstration area and have the falcon fly to her, landing on her arm. It was soooo cool!!! And I was totally jealous.

Holding food to get the falcon to
fly to her.

The falcon landing on her arm
taking the food.

What an experience!

Lastly we toured the abbey/house.  An abbey is building occupied by monks or nuns. Many abbeys were converted to houses when Henry VIII issued the Dissolution of Monasteries in 1536.

It is so amazing to see how much time and detail went to buildings like this. When you think about the tools from over 500 years ago it must have taken so much skill and patience. I was amazed by the details in the ceilings.

For those who love art, they have an authenticated self portrait of Rembrandt on display.

There are also trails and gardens around the property to explore. The volunteers are very helpful and informative giving you great details about the history of the property and sharing stories. We learned that during the Protestant era the Catholic altar was destroyed and covered over. Years later when Catholicism returned to England the altar room was excavated and the altar was rebuilt from the pieces they found while digging the room out.

It was a wonderful day and we all had a great time.

Days 70-72 (9/5-9/7/16)

Day 70
After 110 day without our stuff the moving truck arrived at 8AM!!!   The truck was fully unloaded and everything in the house by noon. The kids rode scooters and played outside forever. They were so happy to have their stuff.  We got all the beds set-up. I tackled Ron's room first and got it completely unpacked and set-up.

Day 71
Unpacked most of the kitchen and put away a lot of it.  We found some stuff we can't use because it is too big to fit in our oven.

Day 72
Annette's 10th birthday and the kid's trial day at Plymouth College.  They had a great day at school.

Annette chose to eat at Wildwood for her birthday dinner.  I ordered the tomato and pesto bread which was delicious.  She opened presents once we were home. For dessert she requested Sticky Toffee Pudding, which I did my best to make.  It was pretty good for a first attempt.

Days 67-69 (9/2-9/4/16)

Day 67
Started the morning having coffee and scones with a fellow Coastie Wife. We went to a great little cafe on the water.  On a clear day I am sure the view is amazing, unfortunately it was raining with heavy clouds so we couldn't see much. The company and conversation were great and I enjoyed the mom break.

In the afternoon we went to meet a US Marine family whose children attend Plymouth College (the school we toured 2 days ago). The kids played together nicely and I enjoyed some tea and adult conversation.

Day 68
Heavy rain all day.  I made apple sauce with apples from the tree in the garden.

A friend watched the kids while Ron and I went to dinner at The Glassblowing House to celebrate our 11th anniversary.

I ordered the Scottish Scampi, which was battered and fried pieces of lobster tail.  It was amazing! (Scampi in the UK is always battered and fried shrimp as opposed to the shrimp in garlic and butter sauce that we get in the US.)

Ron ordered the surf and turf, 8oz steak with grilled prawns.  The prawns came whole with the heads and all. I was so glad that I hadn't ordered that, I can't handle when my food looks like it did when it was alive. Ron enjoyed it, although I don't think he would order it again as it was a lot of work.

For dessert I had a White Peach Bellini Creme Brulee and Ron had a Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart. Both were delicious!

Day 69
Another day of bad weather. I tried making apple jelly with the remnants (peels & cores) of the apple sauce. American jelly; UK jelly is what we call Jell-o in the US.

Days 63-66 (8/29-9/1/16)

Day 63
Not a very exciting day. We ran errands, bought a barbecue and went grocery shopping.  The best part was that I made apple cobbler using apples from the tree in our garden.

Day 64
Made the 4 hour drive up to the nearest American Military base to take care of paperwork.  We stocked up on non-perishable food items that we either can't get at British grocery stores or that are much more expensive here.

The highlight of the day was getting an email with delivery dates for our household goods. Yay!!


Day 65
We toured Plymouth College Preparatory School, which is a local public school (Note: UK public school = US private school, and UK state school = US public school). The headmaster was great, the class size is small and the curriculum is good. The kids are going to attend the 1st day of the fall term as a trial day to see how they like it.

Afterward, we went shopping for skates for Annette. She found a pair she liked and bought them with the birthday money that Grandma and Papa sent her. She skated pretty well considering it was her first time.


Day 66
More skating practice.  Ron even gave it a try. He is much braver trying new things than his sister, which is both good and bad.  I foresee many more injuries for him.

Day 62 (8/28/16)

We had real bacon (known as crispy bacon or streaky bacon here in the UK), eggs, and homemade biscuits for breakfast. Biscuits are easier to make than I thought.

Then we headed to Saltram to tour the house.  It is an amazing historic home complete with art work, furniture, books, etc. When the family left it to the National Trust in the 1950's they agreed to leave it furnished. Many items in the house are over 200 years old. It is absolutely amazing. The last family member to live in the house was there until 1999.

So much detail in everything, including the ceilings.

Gorgeous chandler. Wish I could
see it in the evening lit with candles.

Love all the different stones on this table.

Ornate wallpaper in a bedroom.

Beautiful dining room ready for a feast.

Afterwards we took the kids to Jump to burn some energy, since they couldn't run around the gardens at Saltram because of the rain.