Child Views

I have to share this. It is an transcript of interview with Charlotte where she has been asked her opinion about school.  I can just imagine this conversation unfolding and her answers are so adorable!

What I feel about my class
"I like it because it is higher and closer to Year 1."

I like ...................
"I like playing with my friends. I run around in the playground and run after my friends. 

I don't like ..............
"No"

My friends are ...............
"I like them because they are fun and they play games with me."

............... helps me
"No one helps me. Sometimes teachers help me when we set the tables at lunch time."

............. listens to me.
"Everyone listens to me."

I can do this ..............
"I am best at playing and drawing."


Lucky her, I wish everyone listened to me!

New teacher

Charlotte has a new teaching assistant assigned to her.  She will be there 4 days a week which is what the statement funding will cover.  It will be great to see how she makes progress in the classroom with a bit of extra support.

She told me that the new teacher showed her how to draw a bicycle with two wheels and a seat.  It seems as though she was not aware that pictures of bicycles included a seat. 

The plan is that we won't make Charlotte expressly aware that this teacher is assigned just to her.  It will be better for her socially, and for her relationships with the other teachers, if the new teacher is there as extra support for the whole class.

I am so pleased and proud of the school.  So many (private) schools won't accept statemented children; but this one understands that there are benefits for the class and the whole school.  From a purely mercenary standpoint, they have put in some extra work up front for paperwork and meetings and got an additional teaching assistant out of it.  Who, parents and staff, would not prefer their nursery class to have one teacher and three assistants?  By the time she gets to year one, it would mean a doubling of assistant resources across two classes.  (Two assistants for two classes, instead of one shared between two).

I am aware that this is possible because of public funding and I am incredibly grateful for the state support that she has received.  From medical services, through visual impairment support and disability benefits, we have been incredibly fortunate.  Tax and spend, heh?

On a practical level, I briefed the new teacher by giving her a copy of the incredibly helpful Teachers Guide to Helping a Student with Achromatopsia from the Low Vision Centres of Indiana. 

Statement approval

Great news – Charlotte has a statement from the local council.  She is going to be getting the maximum hours per week of classroom support which equates to a full time classroom assistant dedicated to her learning.  It is going to be wonderful for her progress in school, she is clever and she probably has been held back in the classroom by her vision.  The school are now due to recruit someone for her and I can’t wait to meet them.  It is going to be under review after two terms but hopefully it will be able to become longer term and might last her through her primary years.

She is making great progress in her independence.  I'm sure that having an older sibling really helps.  She sees her sister going to “drop-off” birthday parties and playdates and has insisted that she wants to do the same.  Luckily the last two parties were ones where her older sister was also invited so it was easier to leave the two of them together.  But she has been getting on fine on her own.  It is amazing what a difference that first year of nursery makes to their birthday party participation.  In September, she was lying on the floor, crying; now she is rushing off without even saying goodbye!

She is scooting to school every day.  I have to give her a lot of help with bumps in the pavement but on the flat surfaces, on a familiar route, she takes off in front on her own quite happily.  I would like to get her riding a bike some day.  It will be a good source of mobility and independence in adulthood, if she can be safe in traffic.

Statement application

The school have asked me to put in an application for a Statement of Educational Special Needs for Ch.  I'm happy to do it because I think she really would benefit from some 1:1 support in the classroom.  She is clever but I think many of the concepts pass her by because she can't comprehend them visually.  Plus, what child wouldn't learn better with 1:1 support?

I've sent a letter to the council requesting that they assess her for a statement.  Now they are in the process of gathering information, they will contact the school, maybe her doctor and then make a decision.

Apparently it can take 3-4 months so I am not expecting a quick answer.

In other public services matters: since she turned 3 she is eligible for the mobility component of DLA and her rate has duly been increased.

School love!

I have to write a gushy post about how happy we are at the girls' new school!

In fact, it is more about her older sister than Charlotte.  We had a difficult school year last year where we thought we had sent her to the best school ever.  There is no such thing as the perfect school but it turns out that this particular one was very pushy, very academic and results-at-all-costs.  Thanks to Charlotte's low vision teacher, we found this one, they could take E at the last minute and now the two little girls are happily at the new school. They are so caring, so mindful of the girls wellbeing, so intent on the best possible pastoral care that I can't imagine they will get anything but the best from all of them and shape them into marvellous human beings.

The funniest part is that Charlotte will end up looking after her big sister!  She told me that next year they will share a playtime and can play together, when I relayed this to Charlotte, she said, "No, I want to play with my own friends!"

To tell or not to tell...

I'm considering what to tell the other parents from Charlotte's nursery class about her vision.

I can see pros and cons to both sides.  One parent sent a note to all the class parents explaining her son's vision and was so pleased she did.

At this point, I am leaning towards informal disclosure, and not to its fullest extent: "She wears the glasses because they help her see better."  "She has quite poor/very bad vision."

Because it is nursery, the time will go by very quickly and more than half the children will leave by the time they start school.  By the time they move into the proper school, she will have been established for a long time and I feel there will be no need for a big announcement.

 

My main motivation for not telling is that I don't want other parents to worry that they could not take proper care of her.  Not so much this year, but soon they will go for drop-off birthday parties, playdates and sleepovers and I would not want Charlotte to be excluded from these.  It seems that the less fuss I make about it, the less concerned other parents would be about it.

Charlotte's life will be full of decisions about how much to disclose and when so this is just one of the many steps in that road.

Nursery induction

Charlotte had a good time at her nursery induction.  She didn't want to go and then, of course, she didn't want to leave!  She played with paste, glitter and playdoh - all the things I never let her touch at home so she had a ball.  She was doing lovely imaginary play over the playdoh with the teacher, they made cupcakes and worms and the worms ate the cupcakes.  I didn't need to be there at all.  I am going back next week for a meeting with the head, the teacher and the special needs co-ordinator.  The teacher knew a bit about Charlotte but not much, none of the classroom assistants seemed to know about her so I was a bit surprised about that.  Maybe they were expecting someone but didn't think she was the child because she is so capable.  They will figure out what she needs as time goes on, they don't need to know everything in advance.

Baby Ballerina

Charlotte has finally started ballet! She has been asking for ages but, logistically, we couldn't manage the schedule. She is so excited and has been wearing her ballet costume and shoes daily. She is the littlest one in the class so doesn't have the abilities of the others but she keeps up and tries to follow along. She loves older girls too so she is looking forward to Thursdays every week.

School solutions

It looks like we have found the right school for Charlotte! (In fact, her audio Doc was right and we have had a choice of schools for her.) She has been offered a place at a local primary school that has a nursery attached. The principal is wonderful, she asked me to come for a meeting to make sure they could meet any particular needs Charlotte has. After we discussed any classroom modifications (I said nothing in nursery aside from dark glasses), we walked around the school so the I could choose the room that I thought would be the most suitable lighting for her (love!). When I expressed concern about some steps that were red and marked with a black tread, she said, "We'll change it." What a delightful environment! So supportive and caring! They are even going to supply her with her own iPad! I am so looking forward to her starting there in September. I will be meeting with her classroom staff towards the end of the school year, they are going to set up the meeting to include her VI teacher from the council. I think I will take the Achromatopsia.info teacher's guide for them.

Nursery no-show

Nursery didn't work out quite like I planned last week. Long story short: she's not attending nursery at present. I had a couple of reservations about this place: the staff were nice but it seemed more like a daycare than an educational environment and there seemed to be an atmosphere that was a little too relaxed (staff not in the room, sticking children in front of toys without guidance, incomplete toys, not knowing all the children's names). I was keeping an open mind because I am happy for Charlotte to be in an environment that isn't too ordered or pressured and it did seem very friendly. When I collected her on Wednesday, she seemed quite happy but she clutched her lunch bag all the way home. I know she likes the bag but I was a little surprised. Then I got home and opened the bag and there was her lunch, untouched. I knew she had been upset when I dropped her off and the fact she didn't eat lunch isn't a dealbreaker for me. What I was surprised about was the fact that they hadn't mentioned it when I collected her. I phoned and left a message, asking them to call me and explain what had happened. I didn't hear back from them for two days. I called again on the Friday morning when she was supposed to be attending again that afternoon. My message was that I was unsure if I should bring her in or not. No answer. I finally heard back from them on Monday afternoon. They said it wasn't a big deal, she was upset, she refused her lunch, they forgot to mention it and the person who collects the phone messages was out for two days last week so they didn't get my messages. I pointed out that there seemed to be quite a breakdown in communication here and it was concerning to me. When the teacher said that normally this wouldn't happen, I pointed out that this is all the experience I have of them so this is my reality, my normal, she didn't really have an answer. I am hopeful that Charlotte will be offered a place at another nursery so I decided that it is better to keep her at home rather than send her somewhere and then move her after a few weeks or months. I wanted to keep the door open so I asked her if I could take some time to think about it and send her next term. She said no, we're either in or out so I said out. Back to filling out application forms...

Nursery prep

I've barely thought about her first day of nursery on Wednesday. I've got her a new lunchbox and bag and I'll put a spare pair of sunglasses in there. We met the teachers and played for an hour a month ago but that's about it. Poor second child: so neglected!

Pre-school plans

Charlotte has been offered a place at a little Montessori nursery from January. After all my angsting about schools for her, I am pleased that she has been accepted somewhere. She will be going three afternoons a week and we will see how she gets on. In fact, while I am interested in Montessori for her, this particular one isn't my first choice. I'm planning on moving her if she gets accepted elsewhere. It is fine for now and, if nothing else, it will get her used to being around other children and socialising that way. I'll report back when she starts.

Achromat Kindergartener

I am (slowly) widening my circle of Achromat families and contacted someone through the Facebook group. She has a four year old who is about to start school. It was so great to see him in action today, he is a totally normal kid and all the kids had a great time at the soft play and the cafe that we went to. It is really good to compare notes with other mothers and find out about their situation. They are with the same consultant that we have, which is cool, and it was also interesting to note that he hasn't got a Statement for special needs for schooling. It really is a spectrum between lots of intervention and getting on with life as usual and each family falls somewhere along the line for different things. I was so interested in finding out as much as I could, because they are two years further down the road that we are on, but we ended up chatting about completely unrelated things about our kids and lives! I guess it's as good an endorsement as any that life goes on just the same.

I do want to write down one fantastic thing that she passed on to me: the head teacher at her son's new school said to her that every family has an issue, in some cases, it's obvious and in others it is more subtle, but all families have things that they have to deal with. Such a lovely, reassuring thing for him to say, and I really want to remember that.

More pre-school stuff

I had a very nice phone call today from the principal of the pre-school of one of the schools we applied for. She said she was calling to find out a bit more information about Charlotte's condition and if there was anything they could do in the assessment to enable her to have a better experience. We talked for a while and I tried to explain as succinctly as possible. She offered that they could assess her one on one in a room with the blinds drawn. I'm impressed! The suspicious cow in me wonders whether she was calling to find out more information to decide if they are going to assess her or not, but if I take her words at face value then I like their attitude and they are climbing to the top of my wish list! I am sure she was also impressed with my wonderful document full of positive statements about what Charlotte can do and how high our expectations are. I hope that there are some schools out there that would be proud to brag about how clever one of their disabled students is and feel good about educating a blind child so successfully.

Assessment update

The school assessment went much better than I expected. By that, I really mean that Charlotte didn't cling to me and cry and refuse to be put down. She was even happy to sort of play with toys that were scattered on the floor. The Admissions Secretary (I know, I know,) was even nice to me! She even suggested that Charlotte might start in the nursery in January with a view to staying on there for an additional year. This is something that I am quite keen on even though M has a knee jerk reaction against her "repeating" a year. We should find out quite soon if she is going to be offered a place. In the meantime, I am going to keep applying elsewhere because while I think the nursery of this school is great, as they get older, I think the school is a bit too large and the premises too small.

Whew! I'm just glad it's over!

School assessment

I forsee a run of school updates coming along so look away now if it's boring! I do think it is important stuff though: education of disabled and blind children must be forefront in most parents' minds. We want to give them the best possible start in life and the best possible education that we can. Ironically for Charlotte, I often think that however much we want her to go to a private school, none of them will take her and she will end up at a local school. Before anyone gets all socialist and lefty on me, I'm all for socialism but not in London schools where outstanding government schools are few and far between and high schools on the whole are pretty dire. Most parents end up moving out to the home counties by the time their children are school age.

But I digress. The school that we most want Charlotte to attend is the one that Emily is at now. But we have given our notice that we are moving Emily to a different school in September. After many meetings and phone calls, I've finally wrangled an assessment for Charlotte there and it is tomorrow. I am pretty sure that we are not going to get her in; the person in charge of admissions has a reputation for not being particularly accommodating towards parents and Charlotte is so young, she has barely started walking and doesn't really talk at all.

Still, I am going to go through with a charade of expecting that we will get in and see what happens tomorrow, she will probably cling to me and cry and it will probably all go quite badly.

On the other hand, I am making quite good progress with my admissions for other schools, I have called a few and got on a few lists already. I have also typed up a document detailing Achromatopsia, it's limitations and the accommodations that can be made to ovecome them. I have tried to keep it brief and upbeat and emphasise how committed we are to securing the best education for her. I think I'll take along a copy tomorrow.

Have I let her down?

Already?

I am having a bit of a panic about school applications for Charlotte. We want her to go to the same schools that Emily has been to but that is looking increasingly unlikely. The trouble is that we haven't put her down for anywhere else as an alternative. Because we are removing Emily from her current nursery, Charlotte will not be guaranteed a place there, indeed, I am hearing from parents that even those with siblings who are staying in the school are not being offered places. This is all leaving it a bit late to put Charlotte's name down for other schools. She seems like such a baby to me, she only started walking last month, I forget that she would be eligible to start in January and the schools are starting to look at their intake now. They are also starting the intake process for proper school in more than 2 years time. I'd better set aside some serious time on Monday to start requesting application forms for every school in the neighbourhood.

The assessments themselves are a topic for a future post.

And so it begins

I had my first meeting with a potential school for Charlotte yesterday. I was actually meeting with the teacher to tell them that Emily is leaving but I wanted it not to be all about that. I want Charlotte to go there if possible so I want to be on friendly terms with them. It sounds a bit funny that I tried to do that by talking about my disabled child. They were sort of interested-but-distant. I think they were probably thinking, "why are we spending time talking about this stuff when she is not going to get in anyway because you took your other child out". Maybe I'm being overly paranoid about all this but the whole admissions process that goes on around here stokes that fear and paranoia among parents. This is just for nursery school! Which is the basis of the reason why we have moved Emily - she will now be going to a school which will educate her for the remainder of her school life and we never have to go through another admissions process with her again.

Back to school

Emily had her first day back at school today (thank goodness!) and it went very smoothly. I'm giving myself huge pats on the back for talking about going to school and wearing the school uniform with such successful results! She told me last night that she was excited about going to school and this morning she asked for breakfast at 6am so that she could put on her uniform straight afterwards.

The really cute thing today at drop off was watching Charlotte in the classroom. The parents hung around for a bit as the children settled in at the tables to do puzzles or colouring. I stood Charlotte up to one of the tables and she was grabbing away at the puzzles in her amber sunglasses. It was lovely how natural it seemed for her to be there and the other children didn't think anything of it (well, Emily was a bit upset when Charlotte grabbed her puzzle). It was like nothing to her.

I hope that we can stay in the same school community for most of Charlotte's schooling. This would give the children a chance to grow up knowing her and then they can get to know her for her other attributes, rather than always seeing her as the blind child. Problem is, this is a very transient city and neighbourhood and we are not even sure where we will school her at the moment. It depends where Emily goes.