The Gibsons online blog

Before we left to see Josh I guess things were settling in my mind and I was feeling a little happier about the fact that he may only do 7 IGCEs, but I wanted to chat with him, look at his stuff and chat with the school.  There were some big concerns over the level of English work he was doing and how easy was it going to be do online courses out of school time?  I was also hoping to try and see if they would consider doing at least a geography iGCSE in school time....

So, we meet Josh, it was so lovely to see him again. He's grown, his feet have grown, his hair has grown and even his nails (he stopped biting them!)  We found him in the mornings up before us, doing revision work (he actually had no homework for the hols) that he was choosing to do... where was my boy?!

Josh seems to have made some good mates in the dorm and in school; we got his report and met with his teachers on Monday.  His report was good and all saying the same thing, he is doing well, coping well, adjusting and not daft... but he is talking a bit too much in class....!!! We laughed at this.  I know he shouldn't be talking but it was actually an encouragement to us ( in a funny sort of way!) Last year at Princethorpe college was hard socially for him and at his parents teacher meetings they all said the same, doing well, not daft etc etc... but he doesn't say boo to a goose!  It was encouraging to us to hear that he is obviously being himself, as he is happy there..... We did say we would stop his allowance if he continued to  talk in class though!

I was unsure whether to mention that I was concerned about the level of the work that he was doing in a couple of subjects as I didn't want to sound critical but yet didn't think it was an acceptable level of work that he was doing... so I just said it how it was!  The acting principal (a lovely lady) said 'aah yes, we are very aware of that situation and are in the process of addressing it.  In many ways we see this as an answer to prayer.

Before I got onto the subject of iGCSEs, she mentioned that the school had been talking about Josh and how to accommodate his need for more iGCSEs and were thinking of introducing either history or geog next year, probably geography...I nearly kissed her!

So that will mean Josh can take, Maths, English lit, lang, French, biology IT, sociology, geography and possibly physical science.  So whilst he will still be doing more than his American peers who only have to get 5 it will mean that the work will be done in school time.

We were very encouraged.

It's wasn't easy saying goodbye again, but we all felt a lot more peaceful about the situation.

So I just wanted to let you know how it went, and to thank you for your prayers and support for us all in this area.