School's Out

Today was the last day of term for my two.
The school hols have now begun.
'Show me how you feel about having 6 weeks off' I asked them and this was the reaction I got from each of them.

It's not just a case of coming to the end of a school year for T.

It's the end of junior school.

In September he's off to senior school.

I can so very clearly remember when he left infant school. It's like it was only last year that happened and yet so much has gone on in our lives since then.

In the middle of year 3 we became a family of 4 and at the very start of year 4 we lost my dad.
Then there was a spate of bullying which T didn't speak to us about for a while and when it was made known to the school the teacher was extremely ineffective in dealing with it. We had higher hopes for year 5 but it soon became apparent that things weren't much better and when the teacher went off on long term sick the class had a variety of teachers which was quite disconcerting. T also began to receive extra help and support to help him socially and emotionally.

T was thrilled when he found out Miss S was going to be his teacher in Year 6. She had been a support to him in year 4 and was involved in getting the extra support he needed in year 5.

When I went into the school to talk to her at the start of the year 6 she told me that she had given up certain other aspects of her learning support role at the school to concentrate wholly on her class as she felt they lacked cohesiveness after the choppy year they had just had.

Since being with Miss S T's confidence has grown in leaps and bounds. His junior school experience has been made so much more positive because she took the time to understand T and 'got him'.

On Monday the whole year took part in a performance of The Lion King. T was on stage dancing with his class but he was also in charge of making sure the right song was played at the right time. There had been an issue with the music during the rehearsals and T had taken it upon himself to sort it out at home. After the performance on Monday evening (which G was at) the head teacher made a special mention of T and asked that 'everyone give a cheer for T as without his computer know how there may not have been a show.' Children and parents in the hall cheered and gave T a round of applause. It was such a thoughtful thing for Mr W to do. After the turbulent time T has had at junior school it was a wonderful gesture which will give him an enduringly special memory and will (hopefully) help to create a much more positive attitude when he recalls the years he was there.