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Michelle and her two boys, Daniel and Jake
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Daniel and Jake
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Daniel and Jake
Ofsted outstanding-rated Gosden House School in Bramley is under threat as Surrey County Council publishes its plans to re-organise its county-wide special needs provision in an attempt to save costs.
The council proposes to close the existing school which provides a unique facility for pupils with special needs from the length and breadth of the county and open a secondary school for high functioning autistic 11-16 year olds on the site.
We hear from mother of two Michelle Stevens about why Gosden House School is so important to her children and should not be closed.
Choosing the right school for your child is one of the most important and difficult decisions a parent has to make. As a parent you want the best for your child; you hope that they will do well, succeed in their exams, swan off effortlessly to a top rated university and enjoy a rewarding career. All of these hopes and dreams begin with their first step on the school ladder.
Having a child with special needs is not like that. You don’t know where their limits lie; how far they can go; what they will achieve. When they are very small, the usual milestones of smiling, waving, babbling and crawling don’t come. Your child is left behind in a time warp whilst your friends’ children develop at a seemingly unstoppable pace.
My own children have Fragile X Syndrome, a genetic condition which means that their X chromosome is switched off. It is a lifelong condition that causes learning difficulties, speech and communication problems, high anxiety levels, behaviour issues…. the list goes on. Until the age of 35, I had no idea I was a carrier of Fragile X.
We were worried about the development of our first son from about the age of nine months when all of his peers suddenly shot ahead and became little people. Daniel was still a baby. We thought he might be autistic. He did reach milestones, but much later than usual. Each one took an age and a lot of work on our part to encourage.
I was 9 months pregnant with our second child when the news came from the paediatrician that Daniel had tested positive for a genetic condition that we had never heard of. Four days later I gave birth to Jake and after testing it was revealed that I was a carrier and that both our children had the full mutation of Fragile X Syndrome.
When it came to finding a school place for Daniel at the age of 4, I was unsure. By this time he had made some progress, walking but not talking. Eating well but nowhere near ready to toilet train. Happy to play with an adult; unable to play with another child.
Of course we had done our reading about Fragile X children, special needs children and the pros and cons of mixing with mainstream children. We read that Fragile X children were great mimickers: why not put them with other children who can model behaviour and learning skills?
We had had interaction with mainstream children at nursery and Daniel managed with some limitations. He required a lot of attention. His lack of communication was a problem. He couldn’t talk and used Makaton signing to help him communicate which meant we had to quickly train the helpers there to understand his most frequent signs.
He struggled to interact with the other children so staff were constantly having to intervene. By this age, other children were soaking up social skills like a sponge; they were able to play together, initiate play and tell each other if they had had enough and wanted to do something different. Daniel could do none of these things which led to him becoming increasingly frustrated which in turn led to difficult behaviour.
Finding the right school for Daniel was going to be a challenge. We thought that he might manage in mainstream for a couple of years but beyond that we knew he would struggle. We looked at mainstream schools with units but these seemed a very half-hearted way of dealing with the problem. Pupils were lumped together regardless of age or ability and didn’t really seem to integrate into the mainstream section, nor did they thrive in the unit. Schools for children with Severe Learning Difficulties were at the other end of the spectrum, Daniel wasn’t “severe” enough.
Then Gosden House School came up on the radar. It was a school specifically for children with learning difficulties. It focused on speech and language. Classes were small. Teachers were trained in special needs education. I remember coming home from my first visit, thrilled to have found such a place and told my husband that I had found a school that was full of “little Daniels”. A place I knew he would be happy.
And so it was. Gosden House School has a very special atmosphere. It is a caring and nurturing environment where both my children have been and have thrived since age four. Every day they bounce out of the door, excited about the school day ahead. They are two very happy, confident boys who have made incredible progress at this incredible school.
Staff turnover is low as everyone loves working there. This leads to everyone knowing everyone else, learning strengths and building on them. There is huge support for each other. This has created a solid base for the school so that the children feel confident, understood and involved in their education.
The atmosphere is one of a family. All the children are encouraged to get to know and respect each other. Older children mix with the younger ones. The little ones learn from their elders and the seniors gain responsibility. Even school lunch has a family feel with children staying on the same lunch table all year round with a mix of age ranges and a senior girl and/or staff member as head of table.
Children at Gosden are relaxed and happy. There are very few behaviour issues. It is a community with everyone pulling together. They learn to make friends. In this environment learning flourishes.
Speech and Language support is integrated into every part of the day and into all aspects of the school. Communication is key to our children’s development and all children at Gosden need support in this area. Children who can barely say a word in Reception class are often chattering away within a few terms.
And its not just academic learning. As a parent of 2 children with special needs I am very aware that they will never lead an independent life. At their current ages of 7 and 9, I am unsure whether they will ever be able to read or write. Daniel can write his name and both are still at the colouring stage of pencil control.
Gosden has taught them incredible life skills. Their communication has developed so that they feel more confident talking aloud, even to people that they don’t know very well. They are taught about appropriate behaviour in social situations. School trips include important life skills lessons like asking for a drink and a biscuit in a café and using money to pay for it.
Children are taught how to talk to each other – a skill so subtle that most people don’t even realise that you needed to be taught it. There are Social Skills classes to encourage them to make friends, to show them how to interact and play with one another.
The school has developed an amazing relationship with the Globe Theatre and every year practioners from the Globe spend a week at Gosden and involve the children in the production of a Shakespeare play. The children do everything from making props, painting scenery, singing songs, dancing and standing up and quoting Shakespeare. Every year parents are left in tears as their child, who has special needs, stands confidently on the stage and quotes the Bard.
Having a child with special needs is hard work and emotionally tiring. It also denies you the most trivial of things. No standing around freezing on the edge of a muddy football field on a Sunday morning cheering on your little one (low physical skill, no understanding of the rules). No trips to the cinema on a rainy afternoon (too noisy, over stimulating and can’t sit still long enough). No family cycle rides (no road sense, can only ride with stabilisers, fear of the tag-along).
However if you have a school which loves and supports your child none of these things matter because your child is happy. If your child is happy then so are you because he is relaxed and not frustrated by having to conform or keep up with his peers. He is comfortable with his daily life so family life becomes better too.
This kind of school takes years to create, it takes time, effort, determination, teamwork, dedication and a lot of love. Gosden has all of this. It is a centre of excellence which should be developed and its ethos shared. It is a very special place for very special children. It must not be allowed to be destroyed: the special needs community needs it.
Click here to sign the petition to save Gosden House School
