First

Clarinet solo. Seriously proud of her. I woke her at 8am after getting back from panto at 11.15. I literally lifted her out of bed to wake her up. She got to school in the nick of time and was immediately whisked to orchestra rehearsals (by her class teacher who said he'd woken up at 4am fretting because he was leaving Katie behind whilst everyone else went on a school trip and what if something happened and she didn't know who to go to, bless him - but he fixed that, also at 4am, and all was well!) She declared it an amazing day. They did a rehearsal and then did their performance to the school. Including Katie playing one of her grade 2 pieces solo. She then had lunch and playtime with foundation as the whole of y1 and 2 were on the trip, which she'd chosen to miss for orchestra. At the end of foundation's lunch, her class arrived back so she got a double play before the afternoon orchestra concert to the parents. There are 80 children her school orchestra. EIGHTY!! And a selection from each section were given chance to do solos or some small ensemble work. I was very proud of her. And I loved how proud her orchestra teacher was of her. She introduced Katie saying how little she is, and look how big her clarinet is compared to her. She moved Katie so they could hear each other as she accompanied her. After she had, she stopped to check I could still see her. And when Katie ran back to her seat a bit shy, she took her by the hand, as she did every child who did the same, and made sure she got her bow and a second clap. As she went back to her seat, Mrs W said "I think we need to watch out for little Katie". 

The day ended wonderfully with Katie having a couple of hours with my parents whilst I went to the city to collect the baby, who's staying for the night again today. Big sleeps needed for my monkey, double show day tomorrow! Hoping it goes smoothly, the other team have had some technical issues today