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| GETTING IN SOME PRACTICE BEFORE STARTING NURSERY |
I started the beginning of last week with some
trepidation, as it was the week that Jess was due to start at her SEN
nursery. She is just going for two days
a week to start with and build up gradually.
It is was not a necessity that she went as we all help care for her and
she is only two years old, but we knew the work that Greenhall Nursery did with
children who have different needs.
It has been said that Jess will develop slowly and then just
stop after a period of time (no-one can say when that will be) and then she
will be left with whatever developmental stage she has reached at that
point. A very difficult thing to have
to come to terms with especially when Jess seems stuck at a certain stage for a
while, there is a tendency to think that perhaps that window of opportunity has
now closed, but giving in is not our style and therefore we carry on with the
physio and the learning through play etc.
This certainly pays off as after a period of not showing any signs of
learning any more skills Jess went from crawling to kneeling to standing and
now cruising around the furniture in a matter of months! Going to Greenhall seemed an ideal way of
stimulating her even further.
We have been attending Greenhall Nursery with Jess for a couple
of hours one day a week as they run a group which they call School for
Parents. This group enables the
children to engage in activities and receive physio with parents/carers staying
with them. It gives the children a
chance to meet other children and also the adults get to know each other
too. I remember only too well our first
visit:
My Daughter Emma (Jess’s Mum) and I arrived at the school
one afternoon for our first School for Parents session. Emma was well known at the school already as
Water Babies have been using their hydro pool for a number of years and Emma
has been teaching the lessons. She had
since remarked that during that time she never envisaged that she would have a
child that would need to attend the school so that afternoon must have been
especially difficult for her. We
walked by the main ‘teaching’ area to get to the room we needed, the staff were
all very friendly and welcoming and the children all looked happy but all I
could see were children with various degrees of disability. I was filled with such a surge of emotion
that it was hard to stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. Part of me did not want to accept that this
is where my Granddaughter would be coming one day, part of me still wanted to
believe that the MRI scan showing her underdeveloped brain had all been a
terrible mix up and that Jess would develop as she should, but we were here and
this was the reality. Emma felt the
same way although we did not discuss it until quite some time after, we could
not even speak to each other much during that first session as I think either
one of us would have broken down in tears.
Needless to say we did come to terms with it and after a few weeks I
found that I really looked forward to our Greenhall sessions. I no longer saw children with disabilities,
I saw CHILDREN, mostly happy children who would sometimes wave as we went
past. I heard them singing and saw them
sign and I came to realise that this was a place full of love and people who
cared.
Despite the fact that Jessica loved School for Parents,
things would be different now at Nursery.
She would be there all day and without any of us being there with her.
We were all a bit nervous I think wondering how she would cope and probably
more to the point how we would cope!
We were put at ease from the start, the school are more than
happy for parents/carers to remain on site if they are concerned about how
their child will be during those early first days. There is even a designated ‘family room’ to stay in where you can
sit in comfort, read a book or watch tv and make yourself a drink, safe in the
knowledge that if the child gets too distressed you are close by.
That first morning we arrived and were shown the group that
Jess would be in. These groups are not
governed by age but by ability and needs.
Jess & I were introduced to the teacher and helpers and also to the
other children in the group. Each child
had their own chair, as each one was specific to the kind of body support a
child might need and one was found for Jess and she joined the others at the
table. I sat behind just watching. Makaton sign language is used all the time
at Greenhall as many children are non-verbal.
The primary colour for that week was Blue and so there were songs with
the colour blue in them and we also learnt the Makaton sign for Blue. Jess was
loving it and actually so was I! After
a couple of hours (which went by really quickly) I retreated to the Family
Room, as it was obvious that Jessica was quite happy. The staff promised to fetch me if she got upset but also said I
could pop back at any time if I wanted to see for myself. Our first day went by without a hitch and it
was quite obvious from Jessica’s smiling face that she had loved it.
The next day we went back and I stayed to watch Jess help
put blue icing on a cake before shoving it into her mouth and then retreated to
the family room again to read my book.
A staff member came later to ask if I wanted to join in circle time, which
is where the children sit around a circular mat, and there are more songs to
sing. When I got to the room Jess was
oblivious to my being there so I kept a low profile at the back and
watched. I wanted to cry all over
again, but for a completely different reason this time. I was watching my Granddaughter happy and
joining in as best she could with the songs and the signing. There was no
discrimination here, just love and kindness and I felt so happy that Jess was a
part of it.
This week I have no longer felt it necessary to stay and
Jessica continues to enjoy herself and gets very excited when she is told she
is going to nursery. It is another
milestone in her developmental journey being able to interact with others and
have new experiences. I have had an
insight into the work that goes on there and I want to be a part of it so I
have asked if I can be a volunteer helper on the days that Jess goes (not
helping in her group as that would defeat the object). I would also like to train as a classroom
assistant at some point in the future as I feel that helping care for Jess has
given me so many skills and insights into children with different needs that I
want to put them to good use.
The downside of this story is that just before the start of
the Summer holidays it was found that there was a proposal to abolish full time
SEN nursery provision in the Staffordshire area. This will have to be debated by cabinet at some point before
being passed so at the moment the outcome is unknown but for Greenhall Nursery
and future pupils this would be catastrophic.
The school are obviously determined that this should not go ahead and
have set up an online petition which is just one of the many ways people can
express their concern. If you have not
signed this already and would like to then the link is http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/36488
