Little Man is classed as special needs due to his ADHD and the fact he is really struggling with reading and writing probably due to the fact his concentration span which has been assessed as less than 5 minutes. There is also a question mark over his short term memory which they are finding difficult to assess due to his concentration span so a bit of a vicious circle really.
Anyhow Little Man is only 7, and has the first set of SATs looming in the next few weeks, however from what I have been told, they are maybe not expecting Little Man to take them. The educational psychologist came in on Friday and she was really good, I have to say I was very impressed and the meeting will merit a post of its own, however I have to say I am in a dilemma at the moment how to go about this. I feel I should start at the beginning of our journey rather than plunge in, in the middle with loads of stuff about Little Man.
Anyhow small wavering off the path there. I did ask this ed pyshc about senior schools for Little Man as she told me she was actually only covering at the moment and didn't know if she would follow Little Man through which will be a crying shame but we can't have everything can we?
It seems the best school in the town for special needs is the best school in town overall and the one people fight to get into and actually sell and move house to get into. People really do go to extremes for it. It has made it into the top 100 or it might even be 10 schools in the country listed in the Telegraph and also happens to be my old senior school. The downside is actually getting a place as everyone wants their child there. It is a church school, CofE and we are Catholics. Yes I did go there but it was pure luck myself and my brother got in, and we were always told to keep our religion quiet. In the 6th form, the Catholic school which is within about 100 yards merges with the CofE school which caused alot of confused faces for those who knew me thorugh confirmation lessons etc. Infact my oldest friend who I have known since I was 3 was vivibly confused when she came to the wedding rehersal as my bridesmaid and couldnt work out why I was in the Catholic chapel!
So in order to stand a chance of getting into this school the ed pysch said we needed to be regular church goers - not a problem as we are. The boys were at the local catholic primary school in our last town and only aren't there now as there was no space in our new town. It apparently doesn't matter that we are catholics as it is all about being a christian which is good. We need to show we have always gone to church rather than just for the year leading up to senior school which again is not an issue. We luckily live within the catchment area, and the ed pysch also said admission was on a points system, so they liked things like voluntary work, being members of things like the round table or town related things etc.
I am thinking that becoming a member of the school PTA or PTFA as they call themselves can only serve to help this cause, and even before this conversation I was toying with the idea. I could do with something other than being consumed by trying to find myself work, and the kids. it would get me out, make me socialise and meet other people and I do need that. Today the school news letter mentioned there is a need for a new treasurer and vice-treasurer and I am debating applying. Now maths and me are not a good combination, I scrapped a C in GCSE maths with the skin of my teeth and alot of tuition from a friendly neighbour who had a degree in Further Maths. However, i do budget all our household accounts. I am now responsible for all my own earnings, tax, NI etc and it surely can not be that hard. I think my main concern though is time. I would hate to let them down and miss meetings but if I get asked to cover a conference or go to an external meeting for my business that would have to take priority.
Humm decisions, decisions. Writing this in fact, has made me think that I will apply for it, if its not meant to be then I wont get it, simple as that!
2 comments:
Found my way to your new blog! :D
I think you should definitely go for the treasurer position. I ended up with a C grade in GCSE maths too (I hated it, along with the teacher who later got struck off for incompetency!)but when I did several accounts modules as part of my degree I excelled as it's totally different. If you can do your own earnings, tax etc then you are MORE than able to keep a PTA treasury. So go for it!
In regards to the school, you can but try. These days it is a bit of a lottery unfortunately, but having taught at a C of E church school (also quite high up in the national rankings, but for the Times list) I know that they at least preferred families of genuine faith than Johnny Come latelies who are C of E'ers for convenience. Hence we had Catholics, Muslims, Sikhs, all happily co-existing and learning. Hopefully your school has a similar inclusive ethos.
Good luck with it all anyway, be proactive. I would also suggest arranging a visit to the school before you apply. Try and make the acquaintance of some of the senior leadership teachers and show your genuine enthusiasm for sending your son there.
Good luck with it all and keep us posted! xXx
Hi, eventually found your blog via your comment on my blog. The school sounds a tough one to get into. I found talking directly to the school (ie special needs) really worthwhile in getting an idea of how supportive they are to SEN & statemented children. Might it be a way of establishing a connection? I do voluntary work so even if you are not successful with this post, there are loads of organisations that would benefit from your skills and I'm sure the school would be equally pleased with that.
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