J has gone away for a 5 day school residential. He will be enjoying the delights Cornwall has to offer.
Today he is visiting The Eden Project with fun days planned to be spent at Crealy and Flambards later on this week. Im sure he will have sooo much fun but the house is just too quiet without his chatter.
Its at times like this that I realise just how much of my day is spent looking after his needs. On a normal day, whilst he is at school I am always thinking ahead as to what we will do when he returns home. J needs lots of stimulation with constant adult supervison....so when 3.30pm came and went yesterday afternoon I was feeling a little lost! Bobs arrived home from school, changed into his skate gear and headed off out the door to go skate with his buddie....normally I would be treking along too so J could join in the fun....but instead I was home alone and feeling rather redundant!
Im missing J a lot more than I thought I would! Sometimes when the going is tough and J is having a bad day I long for a little respite....now I have it and Im wanting my guy here with me! It just proves that the grass isnt always greener!
We had yet again another awful meeting this morning :(
Things are not good :( but we are trying really hard to be as positive as we can.
For one reason and another J will be deffo loosing his placement at the special school and there is very little we can do to prevent this. With just one place left at Bobs secondary school we both felt ever so slightly backed into a corner when we opted to accept it :(
Im feeling physically sick with worry....the school has no security what so ever and when your child is a runner its more than a lil worrying!
Whilst its a fantastic school and Bobs is very happy there it just is not the place for J. We have looked at all the other options available and none seem appropriate or able to cope with J's complex needs.
Initially the SENCO (special educational needs co-ordinator) seemed OK and spouted out all the key catchphrases until we started asking slightly more in depth questions and then he didnt have a clue how to answer them! I did feel ever so slightly sorry for him because its not his fault! At the end of the day this situation we find ourselves in stems directly from central governments lack of understanding when they compile their ridiculous policies.
Anyways....The LEA are going to panel tomorrow, to award the ammount of hours support J will receive once in mainstream...this will allow the new school to appoint a support assistant for him....after a rather long telephone convo with the LEA officer, she let slip that they will not be awarding full support!!
Hold on a second....my son is to expected to go to a mainsteam school with less than 100% support after spending 2 years within a special school setting....he is expected to move from one class to another minus any supervison....yeah right! Like that will happen...J cant remember instructions no matter how simple they are...he'll get himself in a right pickle! When we mentioned this the SENCO said that we shouldnt worry because J will be given a map of the school....thats Ok if you can read! I just dont think they get it! J will be in an environment where he can choose to leave at any given time...my guess that he will be making his way home the minute the slightest thing troubles him! This really makes sense....doesnt it????
J is expected to travel to school on the local school bus....which I know he will love....but he is expected to travel minus an escort!!! Lord help the bus driver is all I can say! Its a struggle most days for the taxi driver and his escort.....but the LEA officer politely pointed out that Bobs will be on the bus to look after his brother....as much as Bobs loves his brother - he is not his babysitter!
This is turning into a catalogue of disasters before its even begun...talk about setting the kid up to fail eh?
With my mind elsewhere Ive not been feeling terribly creative....most of my time has been spent with my nose buried into various educational reports....I just hate reading about all the things J cant do *sigh* Having to sit and highlight his weaknesses makes me feel like I am betraying him because he is such a little marvel...he can and does do so much and I know with the right support will achieve so much more. I just hope that the person appointed as his support assistant is able to keep up with my lil Tazmanian Devil because he will be sure to cause a whirliwnd when he hits that school!
The sun is shining and I have a pile of paper sat outside on the table thats calling me to go cut and stick!
Have a great day.
T.x.x.
5 comments:
Try not to stab anything hun! I would! Got my camera today...woo hoo, dunno what i'm doing with it...woo hoo (but i'm having fun!) X
Hugs tracie...this whole thing just angers me greatly....the men in grey suits just have no idea do they, and i bet they won't be around to pick up the pieces. Is this something you could take to your local MP?
Don't know what to say so Im sending big hugs. Its awful how men in suits decide the future for J. The only people who really care what happens to your child or how well they do is you as parents. Keep pushing.
I'm spluttering................
Having just chaired an Annual Review for an 11 year old girl who is transferring to a special school from our mainstream school I'm wondering what planet Deven CC and LEA are on.
What happens when J fails? We all know that this is all set to go t*ts up, so what strategies have they put in place for when J doesn't turn up at a lesson? When he fails to turn up for registration? When he refuses to get off the bus? The list is endless and I haven't even got him in a classroom yet!!!!
Don't stop fighting, don't stop the letters and emails flying round the county, to London, and to National Papers if necessary, they just love to prove that the educational system is failing, and boy is it failing in this instance!
Soapbox put away, huge hugs now sent............ love to you all
M xxx
HUge hugs!
xx
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