long time

I just realised today that I have neglected my blog completely. October being the last post.

First term at secondary went very well, boys are keen to go knowing they are very well supported. School are maintaining the very positive start and its clear from the statement review meeting we had today that this will continue. Boys have had lots of tics and did not manage to get into class much during the second part of the term. However the LSAs have worked very hard as have the teachers as best they can, sending work for the boys to do outside of the class.

A new classroom is to be built primarily for the boys but of course other children will benefit from it too. It will be an area they can learn in if they are unable to attend classes. It will have a 'rest' room within it so the boys can go there if the tics are particularly severe. This will be a soft area.

We have finally got a brilliant OT working with them.

A specialist literacy teacher is going to be sourced to work 1:1 with the boys as they have missed so much and have no confidence at all in this area.

A qualified teacher is being asked for to teach the boys more effectively when they cannot attend the main classes as the LSAs are currently doing far more than their role calls for. This is looking hopeful.

This may seem a lot to some people but the cost of this is a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of a special school (of which there are none in the area ).

All this in 4 months !

We are going into the dreaded time of year again and already we are seeing the tics ramp up.  Jan to March being the most difficult time historically.  However with the brilliant support they have we are hoping that we can improve on the attendance this year compared to last year which would be great progress.

We have continued with the mouthsplint and we have seen some positive results. Tics do not disappear completely but we firmly believe in the treatment at this stage.  The only issue at present is that the boys are still losing teeth and as a consequence their other teeth move around. So the splints very quickly stop working as they dont fit correctly for very long.

I feel I should sign off with NARWAL - being the most recent word the boys shout out. Lets face it - it could be worse.