Post #136 - Sabbatical

After the events of the last few weeks I have decided, for the good of my health, to take a bit of a step back from working with other people.  It'll be fine - I'll pick the role back up in September once Master Logic is safely settled into his secondary school.

*Update*

I never returned to the Charity and was sidelined over the summer. 

Post #105 - The 11 Plus Examination/Selection Tests

My son is in primary year 5 and therefore this is the time in which we decide whether to enter him for the 11 plus examination/borough selection tests.  Yes, you did read correctly, my local authority is one of the precious few which decides, at the tender age of ten or eleven, whether your child is a success or indeed a failure.  I grew up in this borough and me, along with my two brothers all failed the selection test; my mother, in her infinite wisdom, passed hers in the 1960s and attended "A Very Good School"  During the mid 1980s, it was generally thought that I'd pass and I forced my mother to contact the local authority to query the result, but to no avail.

Whoopie shit - only about four children out of a class of thirty actually 'pass' anyway and, I'll wager that their parents have been paying out for personal coaching for months beforehand?  The rest, don't and are scattered to the various 'non-selective' educational establishments.  My son's school has recently become an Academy and has been forging links with all of the Grammar Schools in the vicinity, as part of the increasing need to raise the standard of attainment in the school.

Once we are aware of the result of Ted's Educational Health and Care Plan we can make a decision from there; if it's a 'no' then we'll appeal the decision.  Bob attended Ted's class assembly this morning and the latter couldn't keep still, look anyone in the eye or keep his hands away from his crotch.  His disability becomes more apparent as the years progress.

Post #71 - School Assembly Angst

Yesterday morning myself and my husband attended our son's Year 5 Harvest Assembly.  My, it was crowded: the chairs were pressed far too closely together, also quite a few parents had decided to fill the rows from the middle and therefore we had to literally climb over their legs.  Thank you for your consideration, as ever.  The combination of the noise from the school orchestra, the shouting and generally the ambiance is my idea of an aspie hell, plus it seemed to go on and on - in total, it was nearly an hour in duration.  I could see our son, sat at the end of his year group, stimming away, looking more and more different from his peers.

I try to tread a line between wanting to support our son at school activities, but also being mindful of just quite how stressful they are for me.  I did have to laugh though, because the assembly went on so long, quite a few parents had to run out of the hall before the parking restrictions in the roads surrounding the school began at 10am.  Please don't get me started on parents who insist on driving their precious ones to school when they live much nearer the aforementioned educational establishment than I do.