Reflecting on Isaac's first year of primary school

As we approach the final few weeks of Isaac's reception year, we’ve been reflecting that it’s been a rocky road. Isaac had to transition to a school setting, with new adults and children who didn't know him, during a global pandemic when face-to-face meetings and feedback couldn't happen.

Isaac LOVES school and had progressed massively since starting almost a year ago, he’s severely to profoundly deaf and wears hearing aids. During his first year his speech has improved and he’s now able to mostly tell you what he wants or needs. But emotionally for him and me, it's been struggle. He’s finally being assessed correctly educationally, his needs are identified, recorded appropriately and his school work very hard with him to work towards his targets. All this has been hugely helped by having an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan in place.

Isaac has struggled behaviour-wise though, he has been sent home twice this year for what I believe were sensory overload incidents. The school have agreed to meet with me via video call to discuss concerns.

Isaac loves the independence school brings, especially when he had a sibling arrive two weeks before starting school! He really enjoys everything about phonics and he’s now beginning to read books independently. We work on pronunciation and grammar when we need to. He is beginning to make friends in school and, although again, some friendships have been trickier to make as children his age don’t always allow for someone with his level of speech delay or behavioural issues, he’s progressing. For the first year of school I'm super proud of him. He loves to come home and re-enact his day, that's always interesting and at times very funny to see him take on his teacher’s mannerisms.

We allow him time to shut off after school and he needs a good hour or so before he’s ready to play with his younger brother or do something that requires much attention. He tires by the end of the week and there’s a clear dip in behaviour towards the end of each half term, but we just plan ahead for this. Having his EHC Plan in place before starting has been so helpful and I wouldn't want to think about where he’d be now without it. Isaac is lucky to have both a radio aid and Soundfield system in school to support his learning and help him to access education.

The school overall have been great, meeting his needs and dealing with his challenges, putting things in place as they occur to support his learning and time at school. My top tip would be to communicate with the school, this has been tricky in these times and I'm almost certain they see me coming and think 'what does she want now!' But while Isaac needs supporting, I'll continue to advocate for him to make sure he gets the best chance possible to succeed in education. I hope the next few years of primary school continue to improve and he progresses to the best of his ability.