Three times the excitement as Telford triplets start school

A child's first day at school is an emotional experience for any parent.

But Joanne Scollard-Kerr has three times as much cause to be nervous – her triplets all started school for the first time today.

Her sons Spencer, Theo and Drew Weake all made the short walk to Priorslee Academy for the first time this morning.

But she will be able to take comfort in the fact that if they do find it all a bit un-nerving, big sister Pippa, seven will be there to keep an eye on them.

Joanne, 47, said the boys had been very excited at the prospect of starting school – although she was waiting to find out whether it would be so keen once they had experienced it.

"They have been saying, 'how many days, how many days?'," she said.

"We'll have to see if they enjoy it so much once they are there."

The youngsters, who will celebrate their fifth birthday in October, will be in the same class at school.

"It is going to be interesting to see if they stick together, or if they go their own ways," Joanne said.

"Spencer and Theo, who are identical, tend to play together at home, whereas Drew and Pippa tend to do things together."

The trio started the day with their satchels and uniforms all laid out for them.

Joanne said it had been an expensive few weeks as the family prepared for the big day.

"There have been three lots of uniforms to buy, and of course it isn't just three pairs of trousers and three jumpers and polo shirts, because they have to have spare ones."

Spending the day without the children will be all the more poignant for Joanne as her four youngsters were the result of 14 years' fertility treatment, which cost her a total of £70,000.

She became pregnant with Pippa on her 14th attempt at IVF after travelling to a specialist clinic in Greece.

And after years of agony trying to conceive, Joanne said she could not believe her ears when she was told she would give birth to triplets two years later.

She said: “It was a good job I was lying down or I would have fallen over.

“It was a shock, after all those years of infertility.”