HAVING a child start school for the first time can be a nerve-wracking experience for any family.
But when it’s three cousins starting school on the same day at three different Catholic schools in Brisbane archdiocese, family support is a gift.
Peter and Elizabeth Pashen’s daughter Annemarie started Year 1 at Sacred Heart Primary School, Sandgate this year.
Meanwhile, Peter’s sister Margaret and her husband Peter Howie’s daughter Megan began her first day at St Martin’s School, Carina and Peter’s sister Catherine and husband Garth Bengtson farewelled son Nathaniel at the gates of St Catherine’s Primary School, Wishart.
It was the Pashens’ and Howies’ first experience of having a child start school but the third for the Bengtsons.
Ms Pashen said the three families talked long and hard about the experience beforehand.
She said advice was sought from each other, especially Peter, who recently became principal at Holy Spirit School, Bray Park, and Catherine and Garth who went through the process twice before.
“We have adjusted to it and the kids are more keen on the idea than we are now,” she said.
