This time last year, I was an absolute ball of nerves at Noah’s nursery graduation ceremony. We’d picked his SEN school, and he was about to leave behind all his comfort and familiarity and embark on his primary school adventure. I was hoping that Noah would like the school as much as I did, and wondering if I was making the right decision by sending him here.
We had spent 2 years being the “strange” family in the nursery queue. I’ve written many of my memories down from that time in our lives before, but I still remember the desperate ache to fit in like everyone else. Other parents didn’t talk to us, Noah didn’t make any proper friends, he was never invited to birthday parties, and despite how fantastic the nursery was at helping us get our EHCP approved, it never got easier to stand in that queue as the odd one out.
On his first day, I worried about how my nonverbal child would get his needs met, how the teachers would know who he is if he couldn’t tell them his name, and how he would cope in this completely new environment. I checked the school app for updates constantly that day, desperate for news. Halfway through the day I received a picture of Noah happily playing in the garden with a name sticker stuck to his back, between the shoulder blades where he wouldn’t be able to pull it off. GENIUS! I thought, of course they would think outside the box! This was a school designed to adapt, and they knew exactly what they were doing.
I have seen that level of adaptability from the teachers throughout his first year, and it never ceases to amaze me at how patient and dedicated they all are. Every school milestone you can think of, from school trips, class photos, and even sports day are all observed. It doesn’t always look how you expect it to, there isn’t a three-legged race, no egg or spoon in sight, but it is still a sports day to remember. Inflatable basket-ball pitches, climbing frames, parachute games and parent races, music and ice lollies, and a scorching hot field in the sun was all that was needed to provide our wonderfully different children with a perfectly ordinary school event. He has missed out on nothing.
This year Noah has thoroughly enjoyed his Rebound sessions on the sunken trampoline at the main site, he’s thrown himself into the soft play sessions, and best of all, has learned to ride a pony on his day trips out to the farm. In just a year, his little voice is beginning to develop, and his engagement in adult led activities has increased massively. He loves his teachers and drags me up to the school gates every morning, excited to get started for the day. He is no longer just surviving; he is thriving, and he is happy!
We got to tour his classroom and meet his teacher for next year last week. He is moving up to the main school site, which is huge in comparison to the safe little unit he has been in for his reception year. I was so worried about him getting lost up there or finding the new size and scale of his environment overwhelming. I didn’t need to be. They let us in through reception, and Noah led the way, through beautifully decorated corridors covered in animals and sea life, up and down ramps and stairs all the way to the soft-play room that is right at the end of his year 1 corridor. He practically raced the TA who was trying to show us where to go. His new teacher seems lovely, and very hands on, and his classroom is complete with its own sensory room, soft-play, secure garden, and bathroom. He was instantly comfortable in his new environment, and I realised I’d underestimated his adaptability.
I know with absolute certainty that choosing this school was the right decision. Not just for Noah, but for our whole family. We’re no longer the strange family in the queue, we are part of something so much more. The handful of mums who drop off children into school instead of use the transport bus have become so close over the last 10 months. We’ve all socialised in the holidays, with and without the children, and Noah has been invited not just one, but FOUR birthday parties this year, he has friends, real actual friends, and now so do I! I love my mornings bringing Noah in to school. Everybody talks, everyone watches out for each other’s children, we share tips and ideas to try and solve any problems we’re facing. We share stories of success, or epic failure, we laugh, and we are normal.
This year, I’m not so worried. I know that Noah is already comfortable in his new environment, and that the school absolutely know what they are doing, and we’re also not facing it alone anymore. My tribe has expanded. I can’t imagine our lives without all of the wonderful SEN parents we know now.
Here’s to the next school year! But first – I have to survive the holidays!
