Five-year-old Ben Collins is laughing, joking and karate-kicking his way into class on his first day of big school.
His mother Leah, on the other hand, is a bundle of nerves.
“He’s my world,” she says, with glistening eyes.
“I’ve been upset these last few days. I’m excited for him and I know he’s in good hands. But it’s very emotional for me . . . I can see he feels a bit nervous. I just hope he’ll be happy.”
Ben, meanwhile, bounces into the classroom, throws his Marvel schoolbag to one side and sidles up to a pal from pre-school.
This was the scene at Belmayne Educate Together National School in north Dublin on Wednesday morning – and which is, most likely, being replicated in countless schools across the State.
Children, for the most part, breezed into their first day of school, took up their seats and got on with their first day of school with a minimum of fuss.
Anxious parents, meanwhile, lingered outside the classroom for a last glimpse of their loved ones.
Transformed
School principal Sinead O’Meara hosted a tea and coffee morning to help soothe parents’ frayed nerves.
She said the free childcare initiative (pre-school year) has been “brilliant” in preparing children for school.
“We used to spend the first three months teaching children how to line up, sit down and all those social norms,” says O’Meara. “ Now, they’re coming in with far better language. You’re able to do a lot of the friendship work and develop that quickly. We do far more in junior infants than we were able to before.”
Even for well-seasoned parents who have seen their older children start big school, the first day was still an emotional wrench.
"I think I'm going to cry!" says Martina Riecka, as she walked her daughter Melanie (4) towards the classroom. "I have two older daughters in school already. But this is my baby."
As parents gathered in the school hall, Vaidas, father of Matas (4), hung on outside his son’s new classroom for a final peek.
Matas was shy and little nervous, he said, so he was keen to see if he would settle in.
“Hopefully, it goes well without too much stress. The teachers know what they are doing – they are professionals.”
Lucky ones
The school at Belmayne shows, in some respects, a cross-section of modern Irish society.
There is a diverse mix of nationalities in what is one of the fastest-growing suburbs in the country.
In many ways, the 54 junior infants starting in Belmayne are the lucky ones; the school ceased adding to its waiting list when the numbers went above 400.
After a decade of waiting, the school has recently moved from a series of cramped prefabs to a bright and shiny new building which opened earlier this year.
Back in the new school hall, meanwhile, parents composed themselves over cups of tea. Leah, Ben’s mum, was still coming to terms with the morning’s events.
“I still feel nervous,” she said. “I’ve been at home a lot. We have a very strong connection. He is my world... but it’s about broadening it for him and me…
“There will be a good opportunity to mix with other parents, and he’ll get to make new friends and have new experiences.”
