Isaac doesn’t have the best record at school and I have been ‘that‘ parent who the teacher wants to have a word with at the end of the day or called into school more times than I would like to admit. In fact it got to the stage where I dreaded the phone ringing or making the trip to collect him from school.
We did get to the stage at the end of last year where we considered changing his school, however as he was moving into Year 3 we felt that a new stricter regime may help him and his teacher is one I trust as she has taught all my older ones too.
It didn’t start well if I am honest and by the third week in his new year he was still playing up, disturbing the class and walking out of the classroom when he didn’t want to do something he had been asked. We tried everything to win him round, working closely with the school to try to figure out what patterns were causing this behaviour but we just couldn’t put our fingers on it, other than thinking he had got himself into a vicious circle that he could not get out of.
Even the teachers admitted that when he was good he was great, but if those shutters came down you just couldn’t get through to him.
Isaac started the second half of spring term well and in March the Night Zookeeper visited the school and I was lucky enough to work closely with them and children from all over the school. From that moment I saw a change in Isaac. His teachers listened to him, moved him to a position in the classroom that he chose and worked with him and I think the inspiration of the Night Zookeeper caught his imagination and made him believe he could do the work.
Since then, Isaac has been flying and we had a brilliant parents evening with his teacher and us all saying how proud we were of Isaac for turning it around. All the children in the school got to apply to take part in the Rocket Science project where rocket salad seeds were sent into space as part of British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s historic mission to the International Space Station. After several months on board, orbiting the planet at 17,000mph, the seeds have been returned to Earth and sent to thousands of UK schools, of which Isaac’s is one, alongside a batch of seeds of the same cultivar that have stayed on Earth. Over the following months pupils will grow and compare the seeds as they embark on a voyage of discovery to see whether we can sustain human life in space through the production of our own food.
Although this mission caught Isaac’s imagination and interest, based on his behaviour I never thought he would get picked as one of the 12 children to take part, but he worked really hard on his application and was picked, we are so proud.
Today, not only does he start this experiment, but he was also celebrated for “Respect” in the Celebration Assembly – something that I doubted would ever happen. In a doubly proud moment, Eliza was also celebrated too for being a writing machine!
I am so glad we persevered with his school. They have worked tirelessly with both him and us and it finally feels like we have turned a corner. I am of no doubt that there may be the odd wobble along the way, but I am now more confident that we can get through it together!
Aww! Well done your boy!
What a great project to be part of. It sounds so interesting.
Aw, it can be hard being that parent (I was that parent with my son too). Glad things have gotten better!
Aw well done Isaac, so pleased to hear he’s turned a corner at school and having a much better time of things. xxx
Well done Isaac. What a great project to be involved in.
I’ve been ‘that’ parent one too many times in recent weeks. I dread collecting her knowing I’m going to be asked to stay back. We too have had progress in the last week and I can only hope it remains. Well done Issac, great project to be involved in 🙂
Oh that’s so nice! Glad he’s got back on track. It’s tricky sometimes to know how to resolve those issues.
Aw I’m so pleased it’s going really well now. What an amazing project to be part of.
Awww what a lovely post. Well done to him and what a great thing to be part of. You must be very proud. 🙂 It’s never easy to be a parent, so I’m glad that it’s a bit of good news. 🙂
Mookieslife
What a wonderfully positive post to read, it’s so good to hear of happy stories like this. You must be very proud and relieved. What a great project to be part of. Well done to your son!
That is such a lovely positive post, you must feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. A huge well done to your boy as well, such amazing work! 🙂
Well done Isaac! It sounds as though his teachers have the right approach.
such great news. well done for all you have been doing. sounds like such a fun project x
The whole school thing can be so complicated, but Isaac’s school sounds like they’ve gone the extra mile. Well done, him. And I’m really impressed by the rocket seeds project. Wish our school had done that!
School and learning really is about finding your passion. It can be a subject or something more specific, like a research project. My little sister did a project on the Titanic a couple of years ago and it really engaged her. I’m glad Isaac has found something to inspire him 🙂
Sounds like an amazing project. Well done xx
Oh, well done Isaac! Reading this brought tears to my eyes, so wonderful to read about him being inspired by something and turning things around. You must be so proud of him x
Fab news for all of you that he’s turned a corner and well done Isaac. What a fantastic project to be part of. X
What a super post, I am so pleased with you both that he has turned a corner and done well. Sometimes it just needs a couple of big postitives to make them realise everything is ok and things can be fun.
Love this psost..I was always that parent too called into school till year 5 when it settle a lot. Secondary school has bought a few new challenges but its all much better. well doen all of you
I am so pleased that Isaac has finally settled down and is doing so well. Congrats to Isaac for being picked for the project.