Catriona's Story
Equity Newsletter April 2003
Our daughter, Catriona, started mainsteam primary school in September 2001, something we should have been able to take for granted. Unfortunately, this was only after many meetings with educational psychologists, teachers, access officers, speech therapists, physiotherapists, nursery staff and others.
We had put in a placement request for our nearest accessible primary school, Windyknowe. The local authority told us that Catriona’s needs would be provided for in a special school, even though this was against our wishes. We took the placement request to appeal (June 2001) and won, mainly thanks to the Scottish Executive’s guidance note (draft) on presumption of mainstream education for all children. We used the draft guidance as part of our appeal documentation.
Although we won the appeal, Catriona did not start school with the rest of the class. We were given numerous excuses – the ‘disabled’ toilet was not ready (no heater); the access officer had still to visit; her seat had not been delivered from her nursery ½ mile away; triangular pencils had not arrived. Until all that had been done, no start date could be offered.
We felt it was important for Catriona to start school alongside the other children and, given that primary one children are only in for three hours a day to start with, we felt that the reasons for her not starting were feeble. We contacted our MSP, Councillor, Head of Education, Learning Support Manager and others, and after being passed from pillar to post we were eventually informed that Catriona would start school the following week, two weeks after the start of term.
Catriona has a full time learning support assistant who is able to anticipate her needs, and the curriculum is adapted to Catriona as an individual. For example, if the class is drawing tigers, Catriona is drawing a tiger’s whiskers. If the class is sitting on the floor listening to stories, Catriona is sitting amongst them. Catriona may not be doing exactly the same work as the rest of the class, but she is doing similar and, more importantly, she is among her peers all the time.
Since Catriona has started school she has blossomed. Her speech has improved markedly and her levels of understanding, concentration and behaviour have developed beyond our dreams. We have no problems getting her ready for school and she comes home happy and excited. The school have been wonderful, proactive and supportive so that the experience has been a really positive one. Catriona is now very much part of the school community.
The Head Teacher even gave Catriona a certificate of achievement at school assembly one day. She came home beaming and waving the certificate about, shouting, “Look! Look!”
All the children know her. If she is out and about in Bathgate, people now come up to her and talk to her. When she was out shopping with her Dad one day, he was waylaid for several minutes. He turned round to check on Catriona, only to see two young girls deep in conversation with her. When he asked the girls who they were, they explained that they attended the same school, their names were Jane and Joanne and Joanne’s best friend was Catriona’s primary seven buddy. The girls then challenged Dad to find out who he was in relation to Catriona!
Catriona has also started at her local Rainbow Guide group, with the help of a carer. We access ‘respite’ services to enable this to happen. The girls at the Rainbows have been great, and now that they are getting to know her, they are aware of when she needs help.
We want Catriona to have the same lifestyle as every parent wishes for his or her child. We have had to fight for everything. Without the Partners in Policymaking course and the support network it provides, we probably would have accepted that what we wanted for her was an impossible dream. The course gave us the confidence to believe in our dreams for our daughter, and to work with others to help achieve them.