Someone once told me they thought we were really ‘lucky’
that Elin had a school she could go to. That there were schools ‘around’ that
catered for children with her needs.
No.
Elin and her friends have a right to expect an education (a good education) just as
much as any other child. Its not luck, it’s a legal requirement.
What IS lucky is that school happened to be Ysgol Y Canol.
That, to me, was lucky. There was no choice for us back in 2011 when we were looking
at schools. There was only one in the area which would come close to
meeting her needs. I found this really difficult, because it was obviously not the school I had planned on her going to. She was supposed to be going to the school in our
village, which we had naturally just always assumed our child would attend, which I had
attended, which my Mum still worked at. It was all going to be so perfect, Mum
would be there after school for her, or if she needed someone, and we could
even take her down there on her bike when she was old enough. Realising Elin was not going to attend this
school after all was like a yet another punch to the gut, so before Elin even
started school there were huge emotional connotations for me surrounding the
subject.
Despite our teaching backgrounds, neither of us had any real experience with ALN
schools/units. When we went to look around Ysgol Y Canol we didn’t know what to
expect, I was really nervous. I was acutely
aware if we weren’t sure about it that we had very few other options, which added extra pressure to the situation.
However, regular blog readers will know how this story
turned out. From the moment we got
through the door it was pretty clear this was not a school, it was a home.
Just as a home is not a home because of what it looks like, but
instead who is inside it, so a school cannot in the end be measured by its
facilities, but by the staff. The staff
at Elin’s school are her family and we are devastated to say goodbye. “As many
hands build a house, so many hearts make a school”. This is so true for Y Canol. The love there
was palpable.
From that day when we arrived full of trepidation about
handing over Elin to strangers for the first time ever, to her last emotional
couple of weeks, Ysgol Y Canol has provided us with nothing but excellence,
believing that nothing but excellence was what Elin and her friends were owed
and deserved. When you have a child with complex needs, a good school can be
life changing. To the Y Canol staff- you changed Elin’s life. You gave her
something we couldn’t, you gave her independence, you gave her a meaningful
experience each and every day outside of the family home. You taught her so
much, showed us what she could achieve and, early on, how her life could
be. Right from our first visit, we could see there was no room for sorrow in this school. Only celebration. Nobody commiserated us, nobody patronised Elin. We were made to feel like we belonged there. For the first tile in Elin’s life our family experience was a normal one. You gave us as parents the most
incredible understanding, support and care over the years too. She was two when she
came to you, we were still traumatised from our lives being turned upside down following her birth. You helped to heal our family, you
helped to mend two broken hearts. School
quickly became something I could cross off my list of things to feel sad about. It was a big one to be able to cross
off. I can never fully express my gratitude
for this. School has been the constant anchor in the years of stormy seas we
have weathered together as a family. You grounded us.
Now Elin is leaving for secondary school and we can hardly
believe it. She is so ready for new challenges and has a
fab secondary school to go to. We are
excited about the new chapter in her life. But Elin leaves a tiny piece of
herself behind at Y Canol- a piece of her heart, and we leave a piece of ours too.
We will miss you beyond measure and we will never, ever forget what you did for Elin and for us.
Thank you all, for everything.
Ruth xx
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