First day of school
My youngest daughter starts primary school this week. As I was labelling her many items of uniform earlier this week, I started to reminisce about my own first day.
I grew up in Holzgerlingen, a small town in Germany just south of Stuttgart. Germans start school aged six. Most schools at that age don’t require you to wear a uniform. They also start their day much earlier than we do in the UK; usually at around 8 o’clock (if not before). Another key difference is that the school day finishes before lunch time. My own first day was very different to my daughter’s.
My main memory of that first day is of the ‘Schultüte’. It was a brightly coloured cone that my parents filled with sweets. Schultüte literally translates as ‘school cone’. German parents have given Schultüten to children on their first day since around 1810. It is still a common tradition all over Germany. Parents fill up their children’s cones with sweets, little presents and useful stationery. The cones vary in size but my overriding memory was that it seemed to be nearly as big as me!
I hope everyone has a great first week at school!