Ben is at school!

Ben turned 4 in the middle of August, which meant that it was time for him to start school! He is the youngest in his year group, being an August baby, and with his unique challenges too we felt it wasn't worth the stress of trying him in a mainstream school first, so we decided to apply for him to attend a Communication and Interaction (C and I) centre. We are very lucky in Gloucestershire that there are 4 centres, although it is hard to get a place as they are so needed and so popular.

http://www.christchurchschool-chelt.co.uk/classpage_list.asp?Section=109

Ben was awarded a place at the centre within Christ Church Primary School, which is rated outstanding by Ofsted, so obviously we were delighted. The idea is that he will be able to access the mainstream classes, starting with reception obviously, but he is based in the C and I centre, and they provide all of his speech and language therapy and other therapy there.

Lovely boy in his uniform.

To be honest it was very very slow going at the start. Ben is the first reception age child they have ever had in the centre, so I think his teacher didn't know what to expect and she wanted to start very gently. He was only going for an hour and a half for the first two weeks, then extended to two hours for what seemed like an eternity, especially after he'd being doing three hours at play school. There were some legitimate concerns, but I do think he would have coped fine with longer. After half term we started 8.45-11.30, then 12, then 12.15 and we are now finally doing until 1pm, so he gets to have his lunch and some play time before I pick him up. It has been hard work fitting Amelia's naps around all the dropping off and picking up, and only now that he is staying until 1pm do I actually feel I can relax for a bit while he is there. I think the kids have found it unsettling too that it has changed so many times. Maybe it would have been better to just throw him in at the deep end, maybe not, but I am glad that we are past those first few weeks.

School run!

Ben really loves and trusts the centre leader now, Mrs Paterson. She is a huge part of why this has worked for him, so I suppose taking her advice on the times goes along with that. There is also a team of 4 teaching assistants who all work part time, so there are always 3 of them there for the centre children. There are 10 children in the centre, but generally the older they get the more time they spend in the mainstream classes (this is very flexible depending on their needs). So far Ben spends all of his time in the centre, whilst the two year 1 age children spend about half their time in the reception class (although they are full time so they have more hours anyway).

I'm still not 100% convinced that it is working, but I am a lot more convinced than I was a month ago!

I am really hoping we'll be able to move closer to the school soon, partly to alleviate the stressful drive (15 minutes through the school run traffic, I hate driving anyway but it is truly horrendous) and partly to increase Amelia's chances of getting a place at the school. Having a sibling in the C and I centre does not add to your chances, unfortunately, and with it being such a prestigious school she has pretty much no chance of getting a place while we live here. The only point in her favour is that we are regularly attending Christians. We may sell our house and rent in the school area, but it's going to be a while yet. The area is expensive as it is the catchment area for two very popular schools, very convenient for the train station and town, and mostly beautiful recency town houses. But I have no problem living in a beautiful recency town house ;)