Walkathon was last week - I was worried about how Hannah would go - last year I'd organised for my MIL to be around so that she could pick the twins up from the picnic point. This year she was busy and unlike last year - this year the sun was shining and the walk went ahead. No one at school had reassured me that they had planned for her. I crossed my fingers I rang the one Mum I know who has 4 kids, is comfortable with Hannah and could fit 2 more kids in her car - but her youngest was sick with an infectious virus - she reassured me that one of the teachers took a car and that if need be they would drive Hannah back to school. It was on my mind at school all day. When I finally got to pick the kids up from school int he afternoon one of my friends who organises the event commented on how well Hannah had gone. The principal had discussed with her a strategy for if Hannah needed a lift back. SHe hadn't. the note from Hannah's class teacher told me that the spec ed teacher had been with her 'the whole day'. Hannah told me that she walked with her best friend Z. SHe was asleep before we got home - and readily agreed to a nana nap with me once I unloaded the car.
We got Hannah's report today. It was as expected - written by the spec ed teacher and goal focussed - she is actually doing very well - but there was no fanfare...only an occasional glimpse of the individual who is my remarkable daughter. These are my first kids - maybe I just don't get the whole primary school grading thing - maybe it is her teacher's style. The spec ed teacher made a reference to her wonderful sense of humour but that was pretty much it ... the general comment was pretty standard.
I am wondering whether we should bother with the follow meeting we are having with the principal. Hannah has wonderful supports int hat school - so I am not happy with the class teacher - Adelaide you said it so well - it isn't only Hannah that flounders - and as a parent - who am I to start bagging out a classroom teacher who seems to be quite adequate and rather popular in some circles - just cos I think she is appalling at differentiating curriculum and seeing my child as an individual - she probably looks at me and sees psychomum extraordinaire - and she may have a point.
I am thinking of asking the principal to at least consider moving Hannah into the other class. I can't possibly be privy to the fall out/implications of such an action but I also think I'd be letting Hannah down if I didn't at least ask the question.
Just this morning at assembly - the sports teacher is looking after the other year 1 class for a short time. Both year 1 teachers are out at assembly - it is this teacher who looks around at the parent huddle and calls me over - she thinks Hannah has had a wee accident -there appears to be a 'puddle' near her bag and she is crouching down with head hanging low - all this is done quite discretely. I chat briefly with her and then get Hannah and take her out to the back of the assembly area. I ask if she has done a wee - 'no' she replies. I check for wetness and then as she clearly hasn't had an accident return her to the line up and let the teacher know that all is ok. Now as she is the sports teacher she asks me about Hannah's atlatioaxial instability (which is described as 'mild'). SHe has been chatting to the gymnastics team that come into the school - to remind them that Hannah can't do somersaults - she must have asked the teacher if Hannah ever would be able to - and was told that no - if she did and fell awkwardly she could break her spine. I chatted with her about our decisions re her physical activity - cos she LOVES being active - adores dance and gym and swimming and running and jumping etc - and so the teacher mentioned with great enthusiasm the special needs category at the interschool competition for swimming - if I was interested and gave permission she'd love to enter Hannah when she was older (and eligible). See what I mean - sure her class teacher was not 'in tune' to Hannah - but so many others are...So while I feel frustrated with the roadblock we have run into this year I know that there is so much going right for Hannah.
In the afternoon, Hannah came out with her older school buddies (they take her in the lift) - unlike all the other kids she was not clutching a white envelope. Her best friend was obviously worried - Did Hannah have her report? he asked. I reassured him that she would get a report - and that it as probably in her bag. I looked but it wasn't there. I was hesitating, thinking I'd have to beard the lioness to ask about it, when Kit arrived - holding two report envelopes.
And those are just a few of the stories of how Hannah is cared for and belongs to that school...so how much do I rock the boat? This principal is on our side - I feel that. I think things have improved for Hannah - but while the teacher sits and tells me that there has been no improvement as far as she is concerned in the past 6 months - I feel the pressure to protect my child from this erroneous attitude. Upon reflection (and let's face it I have been awake in the wee small hours of each night worrying about this for the past week) the only thing I am unhappy with is the classroom teacher - maybe I need to give up on this idea I have that the classroom teacher is pivotal...
Adelaide - Hannah's ST proves a great example of the outside voice you refer to - unfortunately she has been unwell and so has not met the principal yet but she generally emails the teacher, aids and spec ed teacher after each session and the spec ed teacher clearly tries to incorporate her ST goals into Hannah's support program - as I said I sometimes wonder if I am expecting too much...there are LOTS of good things happening...
Monday, June 20, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Meetings and Sadness
Well we had our meeting today - principal, Spec ed teacher, both aids, class teacher and regional officer.... and upon reflection what bothers me most is that there wasn't an enthusiasm there for how to help teach a remarkable little girl...
The teacher's body language was pretty passive/aggressive. When I asked if Hannah's compliance had improved this year at all - the answer was pretty much 'no'. Unless there is one on one support it's a no go - and even then her preference seems to be in withdrawing Hannah. I see NO self reflection on how she can incorporate/manage her classroom to better facilitate inclusion... no recognition that Hannah is a fantastic little girl with SO MUCH that she can do...It breaks my heart if I dwell on it.
The regional officer seemed to resent the parents being there. I think she sees her role as supporting the school and not having much to do with the individual child/family. She had clearly sussed out somethings and all she said was that she would develop a behaviour management plan for Hannah around safety issues to be implemented next term. There was talk of her going up the classroom by herself at lunch today, hiding under a desk or stairwell...'safety' issues. How this plan was going to look was not clear so that I felt the need to state that whatever this 'plan' was that it needed to be positive - that is emphasising the desirable behaviour rather than listing all the no-go areas!! She seemed quite short in her reassurance that that would 'of course' be the case (like I was an idiot for doubting them - yet I sat in that meeting where the classroom teacher had NOTHING positive to say about my daughter).
The principal and the spec needs teacher and aids were the most enthusiastic but with the black cloud of the classroom teacher I was underwhelmed by their ability to stick up for my daughter. The teacher did not actually say anything much - except when I directly asked her if there had been an improvement inHannah's 'compliance' in class this year. She also suggested another IQ assessment be done (it's now been 2 years since the last one) Yes I gather she'd like to blame that on her inability to teach my daughter...yet again it is all Hannah's responsibility - NO evidence of self reflection at all. At least the principal was happy to read my cue of 'no' on that one and moved the meeting on...
So Phil and I got to make a couple of gibes (we were very understated - it was as I have said a subdued meeting):
The rows of desks are intimidating
Hannah engages in all sorts of outside activities and NONE say compliance is an issue
Do NOT underestimate her
She would benefit from structured group work
She wants to be seen like the other children - she realises if she is not being included as a peer by the teachers
She is a 'self starter' despite what that teacher says
The principal moved his chair closer to Phil and I early in the meeting - it really gave me the feel that he was on our team but that some of the other staff (namely the class teacher and perhaps the liaison officer) were not... disgusting really - how could any teacher worth their salt not at least try and experiment with ways to make their class work for all children?? AND then the *** has the audacity to again imply that in her class the work is now much harder and ALL the children can sit and do the work AND she has 24 (!!!!!!!!!!) children to cater for yadayadayada... it wouldn't be so bad if the implication wasn't that it was only Hannah wjo wasn't coping. I felt like letting her know - I'm not an idiot - I know other parents have been having 'chats' with the principal cos their child isn't doing so great - and I know that the parents are quite divided - and there are a whole bunch of us who think she is all talk and no action or responsibility for even trying to help our kids learn....
Anyhow that is enough vitriol. We are thinking of ringing the principal tomorrow just to say that we are upon reflection not very happy with what the next 6 months looks like holding for our daughter.... It may be time to start planning for better things next year...
The teacher's body language was pretty passive/aggressive. When I asked if Hannah's compliance had improved this year at all - the answer was pretty much 'no'. Unless there is one on one support it's a no go - and even then her preference seems to be in withdrawing Hannah. I see NO self reflection on how she can incorporate/manage her classroom to better facilitate inclusion... no recognition that Hannah is a fantastic little girl with SO MUCH that she can do...It breaks my heart if I dwell on it.
The regional officer seemed to resent the parents being there. I think she sees her role as supporting the school and not having much to do with the individual child/family. She had clearly sussed out somethings and all she said was that she would develop a behaviour management plan for Hannah around safety issues to be implemented next term. There was talk of her going up the classroom by herself at lunch today, hiding under a desk or stairwell...'safety' issues. How this plan was going to look was not clear so that I felt the need to state that whatever this 'plan' was that it needed to be positive - that is emphasising the desirable behaviour rather than listing all the no-go areas!! She seemed quite short in her reassurance that that would 'of course' be the case (like I was an idiot for doubting them - yet I sat in that meeting where the classroom teacher had NOTHING positive to say about my daughter).
The principal and the spec needs teacher and aids were the most enthusiastic but with the black cloud of the classroom teacher I was underwhelmed by their ability to stick up for my daughter. The teacher did not actually say anything much - except when I directly asked her if there had been an improvement inHannah's 'compliance' in class this year. She also suggested another IQ assessment be done (it's now been 2 years since the last one) Yes I gather she'd like to blame that on her inability to teach my daughter...yet again it is all Hannah's responsibility - NO evidence of self reflection at all. At least the principal was happy to read my cue of 'no' on that one and moved the meeting on...
So Phil and I got to make a couple of gibes (we were very understated - it was as I have said a subdued meeting):
The rows of desks are intimidating
Hannah engages in all sorts of outside activities and NONE say compliance is an issue
Do NOT underestimate her
She would benefit from structured group work
She wants to be seen like the other children - she realises if she is not being included as a peer by the teachers
She is a 'self starter' despite what that teacher says
The principal moved his chair closer to Phil and I early in the meeting - it really gave me the feel that he was on our team but that some of the other staff (namely the class teacher and perhaps the liaison officer) were not... disgusting really - how could any teacher worth their salt not at least try and experiment with ways to make their class work for all children?? AND then the *** has the audacity to again imply that in her class the work is now much harder and ALL the children can sit and do the work AND she has 24 (!!!!!!!!!!) children to cater for yadayadayada... it wouldn't be so bad if the implication wasn't that it was only Hannah wjo wasn't coping. I felt like letting her know - I'm not an idiot - I know other parents have been having 'chats' with the principal cos their child isn't doing so great - and I know that the parents are quite divided - and there are a whole bunch of us who think she is all talk and no action or responsibility for even trying to help our kids learn....
Anyhow that is enough vitriol. We are thinking of ringing the principal tomorrow just to say that we are upon reflection not very happy with what the next 6 months looks like holding for our daughter.... It may be time to start planning for better things next year...
Monday, June 13, 2011
Projects and Presentations
The twins had their first school project this term - on Bugs. Hannah chose Butterflies (lucky we have a simple book about them that the grandparents bought for the twins ages ago) and Kit did stick insects. The day they got it Kit was obsessed - every minute was spent googling or drawing stick insects. Then the obsession moved onto something else. For Hannah she wasn't interested in googling but I had helped her choose butterflies after she surprised me with a very lovely drawing of a butterfly. (She had drawn some small circles to form it's 'body' and then 2 paris of wings too...
While at the post office to apply for our passports (Yay Europe - here we come!) I saw and bought some butterfly stickers. I also downloaded a couple of life cycle of a butterfly diagrams and printed them off - Hannah chose which one she wanted to use and then cut out each stage and numbered it 1-4. Everyone was very happy with her efforts - here is the note from her teacher: "Thank you so much for all the work and preparation you did for Hannah's fantastic Butterfly project. She was really great at presenting it and knew just so much! We were all really proud of her. It was a really fabulous moment and the class gave her a standing ovation. Well done to Hannah's family. "
Kit had run out of steam but we managed to coax him over the line without having to do too much of the work for him (!). He made a stick insect with lego and we got him to make an old shoe box into its habitat. He is meant to present today but as his teacher has just started 6 weeks leave and there is a substitute in there I am not sure whether it will happen or not. I don't know what it is with these teachers and the rows of desks but Kit's room is now reorganised into rows (not quite so long and awkward as in Hannah's room but still..). We have a meeting at the school next week about Hannah The regional support officer will be there. It will be interesting to see what the Principal and she think - there has been small improvements but overall there is still a lot more adjustments needing to be made to promote better inclusion.
While at the post office to apply for our passports (Yay Europe - here we come!) I saw and bought some butterfly stickers. I also downloaded a couple of life cycle of a butterfly diagrams and printed them off - Hannah chose which one she wanted to use and then cut out each stage and numbered it 1-4. Everyone was very happy with her efforts - here is the note from her teacher: "Thank you so much for all the work and preparation you did for Hannah's fantastic Butterfly project. She was really great at presenting it and knew just so much! We were all really proud of her. It was a really fabulous moment and the class gave her a standing ovation. Well done to Hannah's family. "
Kit had run out of steam but we managed to coax him over the line without having to do too much of the work for him (!). He made a stick insect with lego and we got him to make an old shoe box into its habitat. He is meant to present today but as his teacher has just started 6 weeks leave and there is a substitute in there I am not sure whether it will happen or not. I don't know what it is with these teachers and the rows of desks but Kit's room is now reorganised into rows (not quite so long and awkward as in Hannah's room but still..). We have a meeting at the school next week about Hannah The regional support officer will be there. It will be interesting to see what the Principal and she think - there has been small improvements but overall there is still a lot more adjustments needing to be made to promote better inclusion.
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