DO WHAT YOUR TOLD!

At 3 years of age Tilly received her statement of special needs education or SENE. We were told she would have to go to special needs nursery. No we dint have a choice we were told by the LEA. We duly took her the nursery staff were a bit odd about us observing so we left .Tilly was at nursery 3 times a week and after 4 weeks she was more and more distressed. I again asked if i could observe her and was told no, so i left only to creep around the side and sneak a peak through the window. I wont go into detail but that peak lead me back into the nursery I got Tilly,s coat and told them I had come to collect her and she wouldn’t be returning.

I didn’t count on the wrath of the LEA. It was suddenly like I had no say in what way or where my daughters needs were met, Believe we had to get MP,s GP, pediatricians all involved just to places her in the local pre school nursery where her brother was . Once there she came on in huge leaps . She had one to one help Chapel Hill school pushed out all stops for training and talking to Downs ED and getting Tilly reading writing and learning numbers with a numicron system . She was included in school plays and became a very much loved little girl with a great circle of friends alas just as she was due to go into infants the school was closed . We named the school we wanted Tilly to go to and it was the school 2 of her brothers were in. we also opted for 2 years in reception class, A child with a statement can have an extra year either in reception or in year 6 we opted for reception, rather than holding Tilly in year 6 for 2 years where child have to sit SATS.

Up until Tilly was 8 she did benefit from main stream school but after 8 her friends started to do more age appropriate things the gap widened with Tilly falling further and further behind her peers.

We applied for special school but were turned down by the LEA we applied again and again and every time the LEA refused 2 years later at 10 she finally got a place in a special school but not the one we wanted. The school was a fair distance from our home Tilly left home at 07:30 am and didn’t return home until 17:15. This was not right she was spending more time traveling than a person whom works in London. Also the school had their own system and wouldn’t even entertain continuing with what Tilly had been doing, her achievements went spiraling downwards and she became unhappy and withdrawn. After 3 school terms and constant letter to the LEA we decided just not to send her to school until they placed her some where she was happy and without the travel.

Well it worked after one term the LEA relised we were not going to back down and Tilly was placed in another special school and one she loves

Tilly can read, write do simple + and – up to 20. she can use an Ipad, a computer and a white board. she can cook and loves music and dancing, she cant walk very far and has just recently started to go to the swimming pool. She cant walk far or run or skip or ride a bike.