Ode To Slindon College

Believe - Inspire – Succeed

We have a son, our child and heir,

A sweet wee thing, blue eyed and fair,

But from the start, not all was right,

From birth to breast was even a fight.

 

Both parents working, so child care was sought,

A Glaswegian nanny and home help were bought.

All were delightful and home life was fine

Pip seemed quite happy and towed the line.

 

At two, he was ill and could nearly have died

But his strength pulled him through and he gladly survived.

His nursery days were active and full

The problems began when he started at school.

 

Right from the start we could sense there was tension

Teachers all said "he just won't pay attention".

Pip was unhappy, he couldn't make friends His first years at school didn't follow the trends.

He was rude and disruptive and teachers complained,

"He simply can't stay here", they finally claimed.

 

So perhaps it's the school, it just isn't right

Let's find somewhere better for our little mite!

So now was the time of the first Harry Potter

Hogwarts express and boarding sounds hotter.

 

He loved it, he thrived, but the teachers weren't sure

That all of his actions were honest and pure!

Night-times for Pip were for fun and for larks

But children need sleep and so started the sparks

Schoolwork disruptions and conflicts with staff

Language that surely made none of them laugh.

 

We started to see that it wasn't the schools

Our son had some problems with basic life rules.

We tried Private therapies, but none that bore fruit

Each turn we were taking was not the right route.

With years of despair but with endless persistence,

The NHS finally gave us their assistance.

 

Day school near home, at school number three,

Endless professionals would watch him for free.

Assessment and meetings, some questions, a test.

A burst of activity, hardly a rest,

A matrix of this and a quartile of that

Now they think they can tell us what's wrong with our brat!

 

He's really quite border-line, we might nearly have missed it,

But we strongly believe that he's slightly autistic.

Asperger's syndrome, the acceptable name

Of loads of young kids who now suffer the same.

The label was useful but back at the school

They still couldn't handle him playing the fool.

Insulting headmasters and swearing at will

Just not acceptable, even if he is ill.

 

School number four seemed exceedingly kind

Aware of his past, they would bear it in mind.

Problems evolved and developed much faster

5 months it lasted and stopped in disaster.

 

Mid-year it ended, we really looked fools

No time to search for alternative schools.

Parents in Budapest, in itself quite a test,

Just relax and enjoy it - we all need a rest.

 

Confused, depressed, angry and sad

A break from it all really wasn't that bad.

But somehow, and some day he had to go back,

So the Internet, daily we surfed without slack.

Out of our web search came Slindon's own site,

It said it was different, we phoned with our plight.

We sent all the background, we feared the worst

We were desperate, lonely, and felt we were cursed.

But the meetings went well, and they gave him a place.

But again we were worried he'd fall flat on his face.

 

First term was dreadful; we could see it was bad,

But despite his behaviour, they were kind to the lad.

They gave him some space, and a room of his own

In the Art room, some seeds were being carefully sown.

The sports side of life was great fun and a breeze

But the serious stuff brought us all to our knees.

But with grit and strength, the school battled on,

History, Geography were finished and gone.

He had to do maths, and Spanish was good

The English subjects - a definite "should".

So cut to the wire, he started to thrive

The graphics and camera work gave him some drive.

 

Year 10 the work started for GCSE's

The art he excelled at, and passed it with ease.

The other subjects, he gathered some ground

But way out in front - his art talent was Found.

 

Last year approaches, we cannot believe it,

We never quite thought that he'd really achieve it.

Slindon brought hope, they brought help and support

Turned heads away when he could have been caught!

They saw in him something that we knew was there,

But other schools knocked us to hell with despair.

 

Your motto is good, and you've challenged his past

In 3 years you really have brought him on fast.

The words that you chose to market the school

Have been used on our son, as a moulding tool.

 

He did not believe in himself or his life

He felt he'd been dealt out a handful of strife.

He never believed that at school he would last

In a boat of normality, he was the mast.

But Slindon believed in him, gave him the chart

To sail to success with his freedom in art.

 

You have inspired him and shown him a way

We're amazingly grateful, what more can we say?

With help he will get there, it's not over yet

But with all of the friends that he's recently met

We hope he'll continue the talent he's found

And prove excellent value from our hard earned pound!

 

With huge thanks to each and every one of you.

From Katharine Pender