I had a meeting at school this week to discuss my daughter’s educational provision going forward. I went into battle armed with advice from online forums and a very good friend, together with school policy printouts and a mask (because what’s the prospect of homeschooling without catching blooming covid as soon as I leave work?)

But in the end there was no war. The research, prior negotiations, medical diagnosis, and the long discussions with my daughter about what good looked like (thank you, work, for that phrase!) meant it was surprisingly painless.

I know the deputy head from my invigilator days, sitting through his safeguarding training year on year. He’s one of the good guys. In fact, despite everything we’ve been through in the last three years, we are actually one of the lucky ones. We have a school with both the capacity and the understanding to meet us as a point of compromise. 

When we chose the school (against my better judgment, because it was MY school, and who wants to inflict that on their kids?) it was very much because the Head made us believe that children came first. We haven’t always seen that in practice, but today I truly believed it, within the limitations of what they are able to do under government policy.

Only parents of SEND children or children who can’t be in school due to a long-term medical condition, will appreciate the immense relief I now feel to have a solid concrete plan in place for the next few months. Even if that does mean brushing up on 19th Century literature, the Black Death, Shakespeare and trigonometry. Google is going to have to cover RE and science!

After months and months of running on adrenaline, I am depleted. Covid has taken advantage and run riot, but if that’s the price, so be it.

I might not have chosen this life, this way. I still miss Work Me, and my work team. I hope to find some space to keep learning graphic design. But if this is the team I’m playing with now, if I need to be Coach rather than a star player, they will still get the best me I have to offer.

Is it the school holidays yet? 😉