I catch Kate’s eye over the top of Kieran’s head and give her a thumbs up. She grins back and wipes her brow in exaggerated relief. I’m pleased for her. She seems nice and it must be intimidating and nerve-wracking to move to a brand-new area and a brand-new school. Luckily, my two started here right from the get-go, so we’ve never had to experience the upheaval of changing schools.

‘Tell you what,’ I say, ‘why don’t you all come to ours for tea one day after school?’

‘Really? That would be so lovely!’

‘Let me know what day’s good for you. I can’t do this Friday, but any other day is fine. I’ll get you up to speed on who’s who around here.’

My six-year-old, Charlie, finally appears. ‘Hi, Mum, I’m so hungry, did you bring any snacks?’

I reach into my bag for a couple of satsumas, but Kate beats me to it, digging out a multipack of chocolate bars from her bag. ‘Can I give him one of these?’ she asks me.

‘Oh. Thanks. If you’re sure.’

She doles out the chocolate to all four children, much to the delight of my two. Then we swap mobile phone numbers and start walking out towards the gates, the thick evergreen trees that run the length of the school field bowing and sighing in the wind.

‘Look at all our kids chatting away,’ Kate says. ‘I can’t believe they seem so happy. I was dreading the pick-up, convinced one or the other would have had a bad day and would want to go back to London.’

‘It’s nice how they’re all getting on so well.’

‘Now I just have to hope that my other daughter gets on okay.’ Kate’s expression darkens.

‘You’ve got three?’

‘Yes – Bella’s my eldest.’

‘Which school does she go to?’

‘St Margaret’s Middle School.’

‘How come she’s going to a different school?’

‘It’s a long, annoying saga. But they didn’t have spaces to fit all three at the same school. St Margaret’s is closer to where we live so it would have been great to have them all go there, but the waiting list is huge.’

‘That is annoying. I hope she had a good day today.’

‘She had a routine hospital appointment, so she won’t start until tomorrow. But I think she’s quite anxious about it. She didn’t have a great time at her old school, which is part of the reason why we moved here. Speaking of which…’

I follow her gaze to see a girl with long, dark hair leaning against a white Fiat 500 She’s looking down at her mobile phone, talking to someone, but she doesn’t seem very happy.

‘Bella,’ Kate calls out. ‘I thought I told you to wait in the car!’

The girl glances up with a scowl.