We have been in the throes of some major changes on the work front. Towards the end of last term, three girls with very little English applied to enrol at the school. They brought with them, $6000 worth of 'New Arrivals' funding which we are to use to give them intensive English lessons. With the incorporation of their 5 lessons a week into our already overloaded support timetable, I was faced with finding other staff members to fill the gaps. One has doubled her hours and another, a visiting tutor, has been put on 4 days a week! But that's not all!
In addition to our new ESL girls, we have a new little Autistic boy in Reception and a change in focus for our Down Syndrome girl. In summary, we have basically had to throw the timetable in the air and start again. It's been quite a jigsaw puzzle; although maybe more like one of those alphabet puzzles where you've got one free space and you have to move all the tiles around, one space at a time, to get them into alphabetical order!!
Our timetable is now so complicated one almost needs special glasses to view it!
With all this going on, we are still looking for a beefy male type to be on duty around our 'Oppositional Defiance Disordered' child, who is on reduced enrolment after having thwacked the teacher over the head with a pencil case. We thought we had the ideal guy: a nuggety Kiwi with a background working for a national football association training kids in schools, he was gentle yet intimidating. Unfortunately, after 2 weeks, he pulled the plug citing over commitment and demands of family. We were gutted.
Yesterday, we had a behavioural specialist in to observe said child (let's call him Gabriel). There was a relief teacher on the class which amped his behaviour up several notches and the specialist came out of the observation shocked and disturbed! She claimed he was the 'most severe' child she had ever observed!
Excellent.
As a staff we are being challenged daily by these kids who want to be in control. Whether they be autistic, abused or indulged, their agenda is identical. It's all about trying to get their hands on the Flaming Sword and, I gotta tell ya people, we can NOT afford to give it to them. This does not always make us popular. The mother of our newest autistic boy burst into tears as she saw him shouting and screaming at home time today. He didn't want to go home.
"Thanks for ruining my child" she spat at the astonished teacher, who had to walk the child to the car as he wouldn't go with mum.....
Kids do not really want to be in control.
In the meantime, we have come into some $$$$$$$$$! Well, more like $$$$$
I am going crazy ordering plumbers and carpenters, electricians and landscape designers. There is the small disappointment that Himself spent 20% of the inheritance buying a new boat and trailer!!! Cos we really needed a second boat!!!!! But I have decided not to let it bug me. On the other hand, I can't get overly excited either....:-(
4 comments:
Wow...yeah. No good advice on that little circus trick but to offer up a little prayer of good luck for you. However...on the good news $$ front?? We got oodles of advice and want to see lots of photos on all of the progress! How exciting!!
Oh! I recognize a good power struggle when I see one, but I had never thought of it as trying to get their hands on the flaming sword! Thank you for that! Here it's the beginning of the school year - children came for their first day on Wednesday. So I'll start the new school year off with a new visual for the big adjustment period while the little people figure out the lay of the land in their new classroom! :-) :-) :-) That's also why I haven't been around blogsillvania lately.
Congrats on the inheritance...sorry about the boat. I hope it's okay - the feelings behind the $$$$$ and the negotiations themselves, not what finally happens to the money.
Thank goodness those children and the school staff have you working in their corner.You also seem to be the Kingpin thinker re your domestic life too.Good luck and blessings from above pour on you
Why thank you Anonymous (and I think that this time you are NOT my mother! :-D)...I don't know about Kingpin. I kind of associate that with 'getting my own way' and as you can see from the boat business...that does not happen :-D
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